Everybody's Hero
by HoratioInsaneCaine
Summary: It's a hot day in Miami and Horatio is working a case when he's approached by a woman concerned about her missing neighbor. Horatio has to fight against the clock to stop more people from going missing, but time is not the only thing he'll be fighting on that case.
1. Chapter 1

**Everybody's Hero**

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Background: Based around the time of Season 3

Author: HoratioInsaneCaine

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Horatio stood tall in the bright sunlight, feeling the heat radiate through his body. He knew his dark suit-jacket didn't help, but didn't like to take it off even though he had long sleeves on. '_I'm probably sweating now anyway. Sweat and light blue shirts don't go together very well. I must change my shirt when I get back to the lab. Today is sweltering.'_ He thought to himself as he placed both hands upon his hips and looked over to Frank who slowly made his way over to him. Horatio stepped off the curb and towards Frank as Frank pulled his note-pad out with a serious expression.

"Neighbours don't know anything. No-one has seen or heard anything, but a few have said that they weren't surprised to hear his death. Apparently, he's suffered with severe depression ever since they've known him. No-one is particularly close to this guy. If you ask me, I'd say he topped himself." Frank said in his Texan accent as Horatio glanced down to the hot tarmac and exhaled.

"We're not asking you Frank, we're asking the evidence." Horatio said as he pulled his sunglasses off and then made his way towards the house. '_He's a bit grumpy today, must be the heat. Being a red-head in this heat can't be pleasant. Then again, being bald and in heat isn't nice too. I should get a hat. My head is on fire, probably because I forgot to put sun cream on the top of my head this morning.'_ Frank thought to himself.

"H, we've got nothing to suggest a break-in." Eric said as he passed Horatio with his kit in hand.

"Keep looking, Eric. I want this house gone over twice." Horatio replied as he fiddled with his sunglasses by his side.

"I'm getting this rope back to the lab, Horatio. I'm not sure if this is a suicide, he's 66 years old and frail. He wouldn't have had the strength to do this to himself, surely?" Calleigh asked as she walked over to Horatio with a brown back in her hand.

"Let me know Calleigh, people are surprising in what they can do if they want it that badly." Horatio said as he turned and looked into the kitchen before hearing Ryan and Walter upstairs messing about with who's going to process the bathroom which seemed to have a few condoms lying about in.

"You do it, it's about the only time you get to handle condoms anyway." Walter sniggered to Ryan.

"Gentlemen, be professional, please." Horatio said loudly up the stairs but with a slightly amused grin. '_I shouldn't really find that amusing. It must be the heat.'_ He thought to himself to excuse his unprofessional snigger.

"Very funny." Ryan snapped back at Walter. "We are H." Ryan then called down the stairs with a professional tone to his voice. Horatio then placed both hands on his hips again before turning to walk back out into the heat of the morning. He glanced to his watch and sighed to himself. '_An hour into shift.'_ He thought lowly as his eyes followed the cracks in the path and dead grass either side of the pavement where it hadn't been watered in weeks. He walked out of the garden and over to Frank again.

"Geez it's hot today, H. How are you not collapsing from heat exhaustion in that black jacket?" Frank questioned.

"I'm used to it." Horatio muttered as he looked back to the house and pulled his sunglasses on again before placing one hand on his hip again. '_I just want to go home, but when I'm at home, I want to be at work. I can never win, can I?'_ Horatio thought to himself.

"Erm, excuse me." A woman's voice called from behind Horatio and Frank. Both turned to see a young woman holding a 2 year old up on her hip. "Who's in charge here?" She asked softly with a concerned expression.

"I am ma'am, can I help you in any way?" Horatio asked as he turned and tilted his head as he took his sunglasses back off and faced her side-ways. His eyes hopped from her to the young boy she had in her arms.

"Yeah, I've not seen my neighbour for some time. I usually see her every morning and evening." The young woman explained softly.

"Okay ma'am. Can you please give me your details and your neighbours?" Horatio asked as he stepped closer and studied the concern in the young woman's eyes.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm Katie, I live down the road. I saw everything going on here and I wanted to mention something as I'm a little worried." She said as she hoisted the boy up a little more and Horatio nodded.

"Hi Katie, I'm Lieutenant Horatio Caine. Are you able to provide me with details of your neighbour?" Horatio asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, erm, her name is Rebecca Henderson, she works at the hospital, she's small, about 5.2 tall I would say. Maybe about 100lbs, she's quite skinny I'd say she was about 35, maybe younger, maybe older. She's really active, so I really couldn't tell you her age. She has shoulder length light brown hair, nearly blondish I guess, she usually has it up in a ponytail. I'm not sure what colour her eyes are, sorry. I've only met her a few times for coffee and that, she's a really busy woman. But I see her every single morning and afternoon and evening. She runs every morning and evening and between that she heads off to work and back. I've not seen her yesterday at all or today. She always says hello to the kids when they're outside in the garden playing, they said that they've not seen her at all either. I've just got a bad feeling and I've knocked on her door and everything. I think I can hear the TV or radio going, I'm not sure though." The young woman said as she tilted her head.

"Okay ma'am, thank you. We will look into this. May I take your number in case we need any more information?" Horatio asked and she nodded and then provided her contact details. "Thank you ma'am." Horatio said warmly and then looked to the young boy with a warm smile. Katie smiled and then walked away to get out of the piercing sunlight. Horatio turned back to the current crime scene and tapped at his badge lightly.

"We can't really do much at the moment H, it's not been long enough. It could be that this missing woman is just taking a day off due to illness." Frank said as he looked to Horatio with a squint as Horatio pulled his sunglasses on once again and looked down to the floor with a nod.

"I know Frank. But we'll investigate anyway. At the moment, this is our priority." Horatio said before he walked over to his hummer when Eric walked out of the house with his kit. Horatio jumped into his hummer that felt nearly double the temperature of the sides and ignited the engine. The first thing he did was put the air-con on full and then pulled off after putting his seatbelt on.


	2. Chapter 2

Horatio drove back to the lab and walked through the hall. He saw Calleigh looking at the rope in one of the lab's on his right. She looked up at him when she heard his footsteps pass her.

"Horatio" she called to get his attention, he stopped and looked over to her before looking down to the floor and elegantly strolled into the lab to stand opposite her behind the desk. He knew she'd got something and waited for her to announce the evidence she had or hadn't found. "Horatio, I've got skin cells in this rope, this might be a homicide after all." She said as she tilted her head at him and placed her gloved hands flat against the desk and Horatio nodded as he looked down to the rope. His eyes slowly studied it and he could see that Calleigh had cut small pieces out. He glanced up at her before placing one hand on his hip.

"Get them to Valera and let me know what's found." Horatio replied and Calleigh nodded. She looked down to the rope and pressed her lips together lightly before she allowed her emerald eyes to study Horatio's worn expression. '_What's got into Horatio today? He looks like something is bothering him quite a lot.'_ She thought to herself as her eyes studied the look of distraction in his posture and eyes. Horatio turned to begin to walk out but could feel Calleigh's eyes bore into his back, he knew she'd picked up on his wandering mind.

"Everything okay, Horatio?" She asked and he stopped to look back at her. He nodded as he glanced up at her, but his eyes told her that he wasn't even focussing on the question at hand. She could see that he was trapped in deep thought and had been for most of the day.

"I'm good, Calleigh, it's just warm in here." He said and she nodded as she tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.

"Well then, take that damn jacket off, no wonder why you're feeling hot. I'd strip off more right now, but I don't want to lose my job." She smiled brightly and Horatio looked down to the floor. '_No smile? He's not even doing that thing where he'll smile but look down to try and hide it. Surely he's got to come back at me with a witty comment? He always does.'_ Calleigh thought to herself, hoping for a witty comment back.

"Call me when you find anything." He said before he turned back around and then walked out as he glanced down to his phone to check his messages while he slowly walked back to his office. Calleigh looked down to the desk, feeling slightly confused as she realised that something had really got into Horatio's head. '_Not even a sarcastic look in his eyes, I guess we all have our down days though, he's only human. He's been working himself into the ground. But that's just usual Horatio, always doing his best to bring justice to those who need it.' _Calleigh thought to herself as she picked up a few samples to hand them to Valera in the DNA lab.

Horatio sat down at the desk and pulled the keyboard towards him. '_Rebecca Henderson?'_ He thought to himself and then slowly typed out her name, but couldn't work out why her name occupied so much of his thoughts. '_It looks like she's written a few articles for her university years back? It looks like she went to Harvard Medical School. Katie did say that she worked at the local hospital. A very well accomplished woman it seems.'_ Horatio thought to himself as he tilted his head and then scrolled down. '_Family trapped in blazing fire, girl, 9 years old survives, all others die.'_ Horatio read the headline in his head as his eyes widened but tried to quickly focus on other web-pages. He scrolled down more to find that she had finished top 5 in her class at University and that she had participated in a lot of sports clubs at the University. He raised his left hand to his chin and leant on his hand as he scrolled back up to the headline of the fire. '_Can the fire really be about her? I'm sure that there's plenty of Rebecca Henderson's in the US.'_ Horatio thought to himself, but quickly closed the internet tab when someone knocked on his door.

"Come in." He said aloud as he sat back in his chair and watched his office door open.

"Hi H, we could really use your help out here." Ryan asked warmly and Horatio nodded and then got up out of the seat.

"I'll be right there, Mr Wolfe." Horatio replied as he bent down and pulled a post-it and pen from his draw. "_Rebecca Henderson."_ He quickly wrote down before he stood up and walked back out. He walked into the lab to be given the low down on the case and then joined in with the investigation in the lab.

"Horatio, I got the results from the skin cells I found. They're a match to our vic, it's looking like this was a suicide after all." Calleigh said as she walked into the lab he and Eric were in with the file in her hands. She placed it on the desk in front of Horatio and looked at him while his eyes scanned the paper in front of him. He nodded and then snapped his gloves off to pick the file up and read over the results. Both Calleigh and Eric could feel the intensity in his posture as he ran the details of the case through his head.

"Case closed, this was a definite suicide. The only prints found in the house are his too. There is no evidence of a break in and neighbours claim that he was always alone and that people very rarely visited him." Horatio said as he pulled his lab-coat off and walked over to the rack to hang it up.

"But H, that can't be right, Walter and Wolfe found a load of condoms in the bathroom, surely whoever was the recipient of such activities would have left prints and would have entered the house." Eric questioned as he leant on the desk. Horatio turned back and felt a draft which cooled his warm body as he stood there in his dark trousers and light blue shirt. Calleigh's attention was then put onto Horatio again as she wanted to hear his reply.

"Any biological evidence found?" Horatio questioned as he placed his hands on his hips and looked from Eric to the floor by Eric's feet as he ran the information through his head again to double check that he'd not missed anything.

"Wait a moment." Eric said as he pulled his gloves off and went to Valera to get the results. She handed him the files and then smiled as he walked back out, reading them while Horatio waited patiently. He re-entered the lab that both Horatio and Calleigh were in and looked up at Horatio when he felt Horatio's waiting eyes on him.

"As it happens, no. No biological evidence. They're clean condoms." Eric sighed as he handed Horatio the file and Horatio nodded after he'd properly looked at the results.

"What is an old man doing with a load of clean condoms out of the packet?" Calleigh asked with a frown as she looked at the file over Horatio's shoulder. Horatio moved away from Calleigh when she was too close for his own comfort. She quickly backed off and looked down to the desk having realised that she was too close to him and made him uncomfortable. She'd noticed that he didn't feel too comfortable when she was too close to him, but couldn't work out why as it seemed to be just her he wasn't all that comfortable with being so close, but he had such a good professional relationship with her that it confused her. '_Do I smell or something?'_ She thought to herself as she pressed her lips together.

"I don't know. I only ever get them out of the packet if there's a use." Eric said as he shrugged with a smug grin and looked to Horatio to see if he could offer any theories. Calleigh looked up at Eric and sniggered lightly as she raised her eyebrows at him. He looked back to Calleigh and continued with his grin as she shook her head and then looked to Horatio as he begun to tap at his belt while he looked down at the file in his other hand.

"I don't know either, but there's no evidence to say that he's enjoyed the company of any ladies, or himself for that matter. So perhaps he bought them without totally realising what they were?" Horatio said as he put the second file down on the desk and looked up to Eric, then to Calleigh to judge their reactions.

"How does someone accidentally buy condoms? He was only 66 and sane, he wasn't senile." Eric chuckled as he raised his eyebrows at Horatio and Horatio exhaled as he looked back down to the file to see if he could offer any more suggestions.

"His meds were pretty strong… he could have been a little confused perhaps?" Horatio asked and they both nodded as it was a viable reason when he pointed out the medication that he was on. They knew that the medication was enough to cause someone to act without complete awareness and could cause confusion. Horatio looked up at the both of them, but could see that both didn't want to close the case. "If you two want to investigate further, you're welcome to. But this case closes today if you can't find anything to suggest otherwise." Horatio said and they nodded. '_They're wasting their time, I know it was a suicide, but I can't blame them for wanting to investigate further.'_ Horatio thought to himself.

"Thanks H." Eric said and Horatio nodded gently before he pulled his jacket from the coat stand and slipped it on. He looked back to Eric and Calleigh and gave them both a nod before walking out and over to his office.

"What's got into him? He's not his usual self." Calleigh asked Eric once Horatio was out of ear-shot. Eric looked up at her and shrugged as he looked in the direction Horatio had left before he looked back to Calleigh.

"I've noticed, perhaps he's just not feeling too well. It is hot and he's not taken that jacket off all day. I mean, he's got to get ill at some point, hasn't he? He's not super human." Eric said and Calleigh nodded with and exhale as she pulled a bad of evidence back from the box and opened a new seal to re-check the clothes the elder victim had been wearing.

"I told him to take it off earlier, what a surprise that he didn't listen." Calleigh replied as she glanced up at Eric who nodded.

"Yeah well, you know what he's like. He'll never help himself, only others." Eric said and Calleigh nodded as she picked up the shirt that was in front of her. "But he seems a little distracted, has he said anything to you?" Eric questioned and Calleigh put the shirt down.

"Who? Horatio? He doesn't talk to anyone. But I agree, something is definitely on his mind and I'm not sure it's a good thing. Whatever is enough to cause Horatio to become distracted simply can't be good." Calleigh muttered as she leant down with the magnifying glass.

"I don't know, it might be something good. He's not used to good things happening, so if something good has happened, then I think he'd be quite distracted." Eric replied and Calleigh raised an eyebrow.

"I hate to say it, but what good ever steps foot into Horatio's life? I mean, anything that potentially good that comes close to him and he pushes it away like it's not meant for him." Calleigh muttered and Eric looked up to her. "All he does is work, he needs to get out. Perhaps we should take him on a pub crawl one Friday evening. We might be able to hook him up with someone." Calleigh said with a gentle smile.

"Calleigh, we are not hooking Horatio up with some stranger." Eric scoffed as he shook his head.

"I didn't say a stranger." Calleigh replied as she raised her eyebrows.

"Who then? Walter? Because I'm pretty sure Horatio doesn't swing that way." Eric raised his eyebrows as he leant on the desk and Calleigh laughed quietly.

"No, I don't know. Anyone. It might do him good to have female company even if it's just one night." Calleigh said as she tried to get back on with looking at the shirt.

"Calleigh, I may be stepping out on a limb here, but I would put money on the fact that Horatio would never have a one night stand." Eric said as he shook his head.

"Yeah, you're right." Calleigh said as she looked back up at Eric. They both quietened down to get on with their work, but they both knew that Horatio was right and that it was suicide, they just wanted to double check for the victim's family's sake.

Horatio entered his office once more and then closed his door after him. '_Why is this missing woman getting to me so much? Is it because Katie was genuinely worried?'_ Horatio asked and then slumped down in his chair again after he pulled his jacket off. He rubbed the back of his neck and then woke the computer back up. Shift ended and Horatio remained at work, getting on with extra paperwork while his mind occasionally wandered to the case of Rebecca Henderson. '_Has it even been put through on the system yet?'_ Horatio asked himself and then typed her name in to check to see if her case was open and being investigated by the missing persons team. Horatio heavily sighed when the computer crashed and then stood up after a few minutes of it failing to respond in anyway. He turned it off by the plug and picked his jacket up. He ran a hand through his hair and then walked out of his office and down to his car. He slung his jacket into the passenger seat and then got into his car and started his engine. '_8.30PM and just leaving work, I'll be back here in less than 12 hours.'_ Horatio thought to himself as he ignited the engine and then pulled off and headed back to his lonely, quiet house on a street made up of just 12 houses. He pulled up onto his drive and got out. He slammed the car door shut and then gave one of the neighbours a nod as he walked up his path. The neighbour nodded back and continued with mowing the lawn as Horatio entered his house. He slung his keys onto the side and immediately unbuttoned the top couple of buttons from his shirt and slung his jacket onto the granite island counter in the kitchen. He kicked his shoes over to the closet before he opened the mail he'd collected from the letterbox and checked to see if anything important had come through. All was junk again. '_What a surprise.'_ Horatio thought to himself. He picked his jacket back up and then slowly walked up the stairs to his bedroom and put his jacket down on the bed along with his phone. He unbuttoned his shirt fully and pulled it from his trousers. He walked over to his bed and then slunk down onto it and rubbed his face with his hands. '_I need to get some decent sleep.'_ Horatio thought to himself. '_That'll never happen though.'_ He admitted as he got back up and walked into the closet to pull out a plain t-shirt and jogging bottoms. He quickly changed and then walked back downstairs to pull on his running trainers and exited the house with a bottle of water. His eyes remained mostly on the pavement in front of him while he lightly jogged down the road and onto the very familiar route that he ran twice a day.

'_I need to change my route.'_ He thought to himself. '_I say that every time, I've yet to change it after 3 years of the same routine.'_ He thought and then continued his steady pace which took him through a small nature reserve consisting of grassland, trees and wildlife. '_The scenery doesn't get old, I can see why this is a popular route for other joggers.'_ Horatio thought to himself as he glanced around to see at least 6 others out that evening all fairly close but running in different directions and on different routes. He finally felt like he began to wind down after the day and felt at ease with himself as he focussed on a deer in the distance. He returned home and poured himself a glass of water and gulped it down quickly. He walked upstairs to shower and change into a pair of light jogging bottoms and another t-shirt before he walked down to make himself some toast and sat in front of his laptop in the study. "_Rebecca Henderson_" he typed into his laptop again to find that the case hadn't been reviewed by anyone so he decided he'd look into her himself. He quickly made a few phone calls and managed to get hold of her bank statement for the last few weeks as well as speak with a colleague of hers who said that nothing was out of the ordinary except that she hadn't turned up for work without a phone call to excuse her absence. He sat back and looked at the blank screen in front of him and began to research more into the disappearance. It was clear that something had happened as her bank statement was clear from the past couple of days whereas there was usual purchases every day previously. He was unsure what he was going to find, but he could feel his gut instinct beginning to churn which had him more focussed on finding the missing woman.

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**I really appreciate all have reviewed - it means so much to me. Also thank you to those who have read and I hope you continue to read further. I hope I'm able keep your interest going and provide you with an enjoyable reading experience, please feel free to tell me what you think, positive reviews are very welcome as well as CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. **

**I value each review closely and hope to use your thoughts to better myself as I will learn from the best (the infamous 'Horatio' writers of FanFic) and also get an idea of the right direction from those who perhaps aren't writers themselves. A diverse perspective from other's is even better! I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I have writing, things will start to pick up soon in the story line, I'm only just getting started, so hold tight! **


	3. Chapter 3

He came across the same article about a fire and clicked on it. _"Rebecca Henderson, aged 9 survives blaze that killed 5 others. Scene deemed 'horrific' by fire & rescue in a rural area of Miami. Rebecca's eldest brother, aged 15 dies hours later in hospital after he carried his youngest sister, Rebecca to safety after she clung on to her mother and father as they tried their best to rescue their 4 beloved children."_ Horatio read with his heart strings tugging. He closed the web-page when graphic photographs appeared of the house; he didn't want to see what tore one little girl's family from her. But before he closed it, one word caught his eye -"_Arson". Arson? It was arson? Was the killer found?_ Horatio thought to himself as he tried to go back but the laptop froze on him. He shut the laptop down with a sigh and lightly shook his head. _Who is this woman? I must know her, surely?_ Horatio thought to himself as he looked to the closed laptop in front of him.

"That's the second time today. What is it with me and technology?" he wondered as he got up and then walked out to make himself a coffee before settling down with yet more work before falling asleep at his desk around 1.30AM. He woke when the alarm upstairs sounded and stood up with a groggy groan. He rubbed his back and then closed the laptop lid before he walked out. He walked up the stairs with his eyes half-open and into his brightly lit bedroom to turn the alarm off and walked back downstairs where he made himself a coffee with a few wide yawns. He then slowly walked upstairs to change into his running gear for a morning run.

He got back and made another coffee before he showered and got ready for another day's work. He parked up and then strolled in and went to his office where he completed a pile of paperwork before he got up and walked out to find Frank. He strolled over to Frank's desk with his sunglasses in his hands and a look of concern on his face.

"Frank, has anyone looked into Rebecca Henderson's case yet?" Horatio questioned and Frank shook his head and leant back on his seat while he sat at his desk.

"She's at the back of the pile at the moment H, we've got so many calls coming in at the moment that a missing woman isn't our priority, she's probably at home unwell," Frank replied and Horatio looked down to the floor with a sigh. He'd begun to use both hands to fiddle with his sunglasses. It was clear to Frank that Horatio didn't want to hear that answer, so he pressed his lips together and waited for the orders to come from Horatio's mouth.

"Frank, a missing woman might not be the top of our priority, but her body would be if we leave it any longer," Horatio said firmly before he turned to walk away but stopped when he saw a middle-aged man walking towards them with an officer by his side. Horatio took a step back and placed one hand on his hip and clutched his sunglasses in the other. The officer by the unknown male's side gestured to Frank and took a step back as Horatio briefly looked to the floor.

"Are you Defective Frank Tripp?" he asked warmly, but a hint of uncertainty was evident in his voice. Frank nodded as he stood and put his hands on his hips as he allowed his eyes to observe the well-dressed man. Horatio also took a little time to observe the male's strawberry blonde hair, brown eyes as well as his good posture and smart clothes.

"What can I do for you sir?" Frank asked as Horatio stood there and allowed his eyes to study the male more. _He's a doctor, could he be linked with Miss Henderson? _Horatio wondered when he caught a glimpse of the males hospital ID badge on his belt.

"Yes, I'd like to report a missing person please," he replied clearly, but his worry was obvious to both Horatio and Frank.

"This missing person wouldn't happen to go by the name of Rebecca Henderson, would it?" Horatio asked as he stepped forwards and began to fiddle with his sunglasses more. He slid his index finger and thumb up the thin, metal arm of the shades as he tilted his head at the male. _I must know this woman from somewhere, I can't leave her case alone. _Horatio thought to himself and observed the man nod at him with hope and dread manifesting itself simultaneously in his eyes. Horatio took in a small breath of air as he turned to the side so his shoulder was facing the man, but his body facing Frank. The man looked from Horatio to Frank with a crumpled brow.

"Yes it would, has someone else reported it?" he asked as he looked back to Horatio with a curious, yet worried expression.

"Yes, yesterday a neighbour of hers approached me. I'm Lieutenant Horatio Caine," Horatio replied.

"Jake Bannismith, Doctor Jake Bannismith, I'm a colleague of hers," he replied as he reached out towards Horatio and shook his hand when Horatio also offered Jake his hand.

"Jake, what can you tell me? When was the last time you saw her?" Horatio questioned as he moved on his feet and turned so his left shoulder faced him once again while he looked down to the floor and studied the Jake's smart, clean shoes.

"She's 36, she's got shoulder length light brown hair, blue eyes. She's quite small. She didn't turn up to work today or yesterday which is very unlike her. In the last 10 years that I've known her, she's taken one day off sick and that was because I made her go home after she'd crawled into work on the verge of collapsing. It's very unlike her to take a day off especially without notice. It's not just me worrying now, the whole department is. We're having to transfer children to other clinics because she isn't in, the waiting time is becoming ridiculous, we need her back and soon," Jake said as he placed a hand on his hip and ran the other through his short hair.

"Jake, can you tell me specifically what she does?" Horatio questioned as he placed one hand on his hip and clutched his sunglasses in the other hand.

"Yeah, she's a paediatric neurologist, I am too. We run clinics side-by-side. She's got a lot of sick patients who require her care, I can't take on all of them. These children need her," Jake sighed as he shook his head, clearly distressed by the situation.

"Okay, thank you Jake, I can assure you that I will be looking at this case personally as of now. Can you give me any contact details of family or a boyfriend so I can get in touch with them?" Horatio asked as he tilted his head and looked into the Jake's worried brown eyes.

"I don't know, I mean I'm not the closest to her, she rarely talks about family, all it is with her is work and nothing else. I don't think she has a boyfriend. I think she mentioned a brother once, Edward. I'm not sure though," he replied with another sigh, wishing he'd asked more about her family. "Here's the number of her best friend who works at the hospital too. Her name is Marthe, Marthe Evans, she's a nurse. She might be able to give you more on Rebecca's family," he said as he wrote the name and number down.

"Marthe?" Horatio questioned as he tilted his head.

"Yes, it's like Martha, but you only pronounce the first four letters. My details are there too," Jake replied.

"Thank you, here's my card, call me if you think of anything else," Horatio replied as they switched cards.

"Thank you Lieutenant, I must get back to work, if you need to get hold of me, just call my PA, she'll put you straight through to me when I'm working, or call my cell any other time," he said and Horatio nodded with an appreciative expression.

"Thank you, Jake," Horatio said as he looked back up and into his brown eyes. Jake then turned and walked out to get back to the hospital.

"Frank, I'd like the case file, please," Horatio said as he looked back to Frank before looking down to the floor as he dropped his hand from his hip to begin playing with his sunglasses once more.

"Why are you taking such an interest in this case, H?" Frank questioned as he dug through a pile of cases on his desk and pulled a specific one out and read the case number and name.

"Because we have a woman who needs our help and I am going to help her." Horatio said as he took the file from Frank when he held it out to him. He then gave Frank a nod and turned on his heel to head back to his office while be began to read the file immediately.

"H," Eric called from behind as he jogged over to him. Horatio stopped in the hall and closed the file in his hands before he turned around to face Eric. "H, you dropped this," he said as he handed Horatio a piece of paper that had fallen from the file.

"Thank you Eric." Horatio replied as he quickly put it in the file and closed it again.

"Who's Rebecca Henderson? A previous victim on a case you're reviewing?" Eric questioned curiously as he watched Horatio look down to the floor a few meters away from him.

"No, she's a missing person and you've just volunteered to check out her house with me," Horatio said as he started off towards the lift. Eric quickly followed.

"A missing person?" Eric questioned and Horatio nodded as he pushed the button for the lift. "How long for?" Eric questioned.

"Over 48 hours. Her neighbours and colleagues have yet to see her which is very out of character," Horatio said as he boarded the lift with Eric.

"Occupation?" Eric questioned as he also needed a background on the missing woman if he were to be able to help effectively.

"She's a paediatric neurologist and in the last 10 years, she's only taken one sick day. She's not someone to forget about her job and regular patients." Horatio replied as he pushed the ground floor button and then stood straight as Eric stood beside him and looked down to the file in Horatio's hand. Horatio then handed him the file as he pulled out his phone and checked his messages before they both exited the lift at a fast pace.

"Any family or boyfriend?" Eric asked once he didn't see any contact information regarding family in her file.

"I am not aware of a boyfriend, but it seems that she kept her home life at her home, her colleague of 10 years isn't sure about her family, but thinks she has a brother called Edward," Horatio said and Eric nodded as he jumped into the hummer with Horatio. Horatio soon pulled off after they'd clicked their seatbelts into place.

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**I'd like to say thank you to those who've kindly reviewed and especially to those who've given me some fantastic advice! I hope this chapter has been an improvement on the last and I really hope the next chapter is an improvement on this one! Con-crit is very welcome. **


	4. Chapter 4

They pulled up outside the detached two-story apartment that wasn't situated far from Horatio's place. Horatio observed the sand-coloured apartment that he passed every day on his drive to work. _I may have seen her around? Could that be where I know her name from?_ Horatio wondered as they both climbed out of the large, sweltering hummer and slammed the doors shut. Horatio stood by the door for a moment with his hands on his hips. He took a deep breath while his eyes observed the calm residence. _I've definitely seen this woman before, I'm sure of it. I'm sure I know her from somewhere. Think old man! _Horatio thought as he began to belittle himself out of frustration of being unable to recall why her name seemed so familiar.

"H?" Eric called to gently lull Horatio from his thoughts once he'd stopped by his boss's side. Horatio looked back to Eric and then gave him a small nod to indicate his acknowledgement. Both he and Eric ambled then up the path with caution. Horatio looked to left to see the tidy front yard, everything had its place, not even a petal from a flower littered the soil in the flower beds around the edge of the yard. He looked down the street and examined the other yards that were tidy, but the grass was dead. Not one patch on her grass had perished in the dry, blistering weather that they'd experienced that week.

"Her vehicle is here, H," Eric pointed out as they walked past the black Audi R8 convertible which sat on their right on the large drive. Horatio stopped by the vehicle and peered in through the slightly tinted windows. The interior was spotless, with only one empty can of soda in the cup holder behind the transmission. He stood back up and looked over to Eric as he checked out the back of the car. _I've seen the car around, I'm sure of it._ Horatio thought as Eric stooped down onto his hands and knees and looked under the car. He could feel the scalding asphalt below his hands and knees as well as the beating intensity of the heat bouncing off the metal work from the vehicle.

"H, you're going to want to see this, she's got a tracker," Eric said as he sat up and knelt by the exhaust. Horatio pulled his sunglasses off and then knelt beside Eric to look at the tracker underneath the car. "Someone has been targeting her," he said as he looked to Horatio and stood back up with him as Horatio nodded and slipped his sunglasses back on. He placed his hands on his hips as he turned back to the large apartment. _Well, it looks like a place that a doctor would live. _Horatio thought as his eyes wandered the structure, studying the details. He noticed that all the blinds seemed to be closed, when any normal person would have them open during the day. _If she's been abducted, it's entirely possible that she was taken at night, perhaps after she got in from work?_ Horatio pondered as he slowly made his way over to the white front door with Eric following closely. He knocked loudly and stepped back from the door.

"Miami Dade police, open up," he said firmly and clearly while Eric placed his hand on the gun that sat upon his hip. Horatio glanced back to Eric before he pulled his sunglasses off and held them in his left hand as he stepped to the side and peered through one of the windowpanes that ran the length of the door, either side. He squinted through the net curtain that hung the other side to give privacy, but didn't see any movement. _Nothing._ Horatio thought as he stepped back and took hold of the door handle. He turned it, but the door was locked. _That's not surprising really._ He reflected as he pressed his lips together with concern evolving in his eyes.

"There could be forced entry around the back, I'll check it out," Eric said as he pulled his gun from the holster and backed away from the porch. Horatio also pulled his gun from his holster when he felt a slither of dread materialise in his stomach. He watched Eric stalk around the side of the apartment silently and lowly. Horatio backed off himself as his eyes searched the front of the 2 story building. He side-stepped in front of the garage with his eyes looking for anything that could open it, such as a key pad, but he couldn't see anything.

He felt something under his heel and stopped as he glanced down and lifted his foot. He raised his eyebrows when he realised he'd accidentally stepped on the control for the garage. _That was a stroke of luck, me… and a stroke of luck?_ He thought as he bent down and picked it up before he pressed the button to open the garage door. He glanced back to the car and realised why they hadn't seen it before as they didn't check out the other side of the car and the tyre had concealed it when looking under the vehicle. He placed the remote on the back of the Audi, then felt the sting of the scalding metal work bite his fingertips. He quickly looked back to the garage and raised his gun with his finger on the trigger, ready for anything as the garage slowly opened.

He stepped forwards when he couldn't see any threat and entered the dark, empty garage. Natural light flooded the garage once the door was fully open and allowed a gentle, warm breeze to whip around. He stepped up to the door that led to the house and took hold of the door handle. He quickly turned it and then pushed the door open with his gun at the ready. He felt a surge of chilled air rush out of the apartment and mix with the humid garage air. _The air-conditioning has been left on for some time. _He thought as he stepped in and onto the plain, white tiled flooring of the main hall. To his left the front door with a neat shoe rack and table with general items placed. He looked to his right and saw the living area, with an archway for the doorway with no door.

Everything seemed neat and nothing disturbed. He stepped further into the hall and observed every detail he could._ This seems like quite a plain house, a few pieces of art work, and everything has a place. It doesn't even look lived in._ He thought as he opened a door on his right and looked in to what appeared to be an immaculate guest room. He left the door open and continued through the long, brightly lit hall when he saw Eric looking around the very large open plan kitchen at the back of the house.

"H, there's evidence of a break in, the lock on the double doors has been damaged, and the doors were open," Eric whispered over to Horatio who nodded at him and gestured to the end door on the left of the kitchen while he approached the closer door on his left. Both opened the doors fast with their guns still drawn. Horatio looked into the study; the only room that looked lived in so far. Papers, books and a laptop were sprawled across the desk. He glanced around to see hundreds of books on two large bookshelves that covered the side walls. He stepped back to see Eric stepping out of the end room.

"It's a bathroom," Eric said quietly and Horatio nodded as his eyes drew him to the wooden spiral staircase in the very corner of the kitchen on the right. He began to make his way through the large, brightly lit kitchen but stopped when something caught his eye.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you all for continuing to read and review, as I've mentionted before, constructive criticsism is very welcome. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

He looked down to the white flooring where a trail of blood had dried and then saw a hand print smeared along one of the cupboards as well as visible hand swipes through the blood trail. _There was a definite struggle, she tried holding onto something while someone dragged her away._ Horatio thought as he crouched and inspected the blood smears closely. He could feel rage igniting from deep within as he pictured the struggle in the kitchen. His eyes intensified on a handle covered in blood where someone had taken hold of it. Horatio curled his left hand into a fist and pressed one knuckle against his lips. _She tried to hold on for her life._ Horatio rumbled darkly in his head with his grip strengthening on his gun in his right hand.

"What you got, H?" Eric questioned with a whisper with his gun still drawn and pointed towards the spiral staircase. He saw his boss's radiant red hair over the island counter, he knew Horatio had spotted something, but what it was remained a mystery.

"Blood," he replied lowly as he stood back up with determination in his eyes while he trained his gun in on the staircase and approached vigilantly. He peeked up as he placed his right foot on the bottom step with Eric covering his back. He slowly began to make his way up the staircase on high alert, with each step he heard the clunk of his shoes on the hardwood with his heartbeat steadily increasing once more. No matter how many times he'd entered an eerily silent house and approached a dark room, the fear of the unknown still plagued his mind, especially after he was stabbed by Walter Resden some 15 years back and left for dead. Death didn't bother Horatio, it was the thought of being left to die alone, slowly and painfully that bothered him.

As he neared the top, he slowed to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness as once again the blind was closed and didn't allow any natural light in, nor did the sky-lights as they were blacked out with blinds. His eyes quickly scanned the room intensely. Against the back wall, a bed was pushed against it in the middle, to the right of it a small bed-side table with a lamp. He noticed that the blanket had been dragged from the bed and lay partially on the floor but still partially on the end of the bed. _She was dragged from her bed, probably while she slept._ Horatio thought as his lips tightened when studied the large window that pointed to the back of the house.

He looked to the left of the room where a large wardrobe and chest of draws stood side by side. The chest of draws sat below the large window at the front of the house with an en-suite at the front of the house also. He flicked the light on as he stepped foot onto the carpet and looked into the master bathroom which seemed clear. _Plain bedroom, reminds me of my own. _Horatio thought as he lowered his gun and entered the large room. Eric soon lowered his gun and stood by Horatio when Horatio stopped at the end of the large bed and looked at it with the gun by his side, still in his hand. He exhaled with his eyes hardening on the way the blanket had been pulled. _She was dragged from her own bed. _He repeated in his thoughts as he put his gun away and then crouched and lifted the blanket from the floor. He pulled a book towards him that had been hidden by the duvet. _She was dragged from her own bed, where she felt safe._ He thought as he felt his anger boiling deep within his core. The more he thought of the innocent woman being taken from the comfort of her bedroom the more it fuelled his fury.

Eric had walked over to the master bathroom and took a closer look inside. "It looks like she lives alone, there's only one tooth brush in here, nothing to suggest a boyfriend," he said as he looked over to Horatio who silently fiddled with his sunglasses. Horatio turned to Eric and nodded in acknowledgement of his comments. "Shall I get on with processing?" Eric questioned and Horatio nodded silently before he looked at the cream carpet beneath his feet. Eric quickly headed out of the bedroom and down the stairs to collect his kit from the hummer while Horatio stood tall in the bedroom, alone.

He controlled his breathing as he slowly lifted his head to look at the empty bed before he exhaled violently through his nose. He quickly released his sunglasses from his clenched fist when he felt them beginning to bow under the tight hold he had on them. He watched them fall to the floor before he slowly stooped low to collect them, once his knee connected with the thick carpet, he remained low. He slipped his sunglasses into the collar of his shirt and leant on his knee as he glowered at the bed. _It's clear she lives alone, so no boyfriend, no family, no children either. She must rarely use anything but this room and the study as only these rooms seem to be lived in. What would someone want with a doctor? A doctor for children? There must be more to this and I'm missing something. _Horatio believed as he stood back up sharply before he turned and flicked his jacket back while he placed his left hand on his hip and made his way down the wooden spiral staircase. He had noticed that the house had begun to warm up now that the double doors that led from the kitchen to the back garden were open as well as the door that led to the garage and out. He stepped out and into the burning Miami sun as he pulled his phone out and called for Calleigh, Ryan and Walter all to attend the apartment that he now claimed as his crime scene.

He slid his sunglasses on and allowed his eyes to scrutinise the back of the house but he couldn't see anything but the damaged lock on the double doors. He tapped at his belt with his hands upon his hips while a large gust of wind sent his red-hair crazy. He looked back into the modern styled kitchen and entered the house once again to see if he could find anything else about her. _This house reminds me a lot of my own, bare. It has nothing but the essentials, little or no family photos, no heart. _Horatio thought as he walked back through to the study. _If I'm going to find anything out about Rebecca, it'll be in here. _He believed as he slipped his sunglasses around his neck to free up his left hand as he moved a few pieces of paper around on the desk. A lot of it seemed to be notes, mostly notes she'd made on patients to carry on with their cases at home.

"I'll start in the kitchen, H," Eric informed Horatio as he walked past the study. Horatio acknowledged the information, but didn't respond physically while he lifted the laptop lid. He looked at the log-in screen that appeared and then looked around the desk for some sort of password, but didn't see anything. _Well, it's clear she works a lot, she probably rarely does anything else by the looks of it. _He thought as he began to walk out when he saw a pin-board behind the door that caught his eye. He closed the door too and placed his hands on his hips as he looked at the board.

"Who's Stephen Wells?" Horatio asked himself out loud when he saw the name written a few times and underlined indicating that it was an important name. _Abby Wells? Is this a case she's working on?_ Horatio wondered when he saw the female name next to the male name. He strode powerfully back over to her desk and rifled through the papers when he came to a name he recognised again. He lifted the paper and began to read.

"_Abby Wells, aged 10, referred due to recurrent seizures at home. Upon examination and further tests, nothing was concluded. Father, Stephen is adamant that his daughter is epileptic and continues to press the matter. He seems desperate for medication to be administered. I have yet to see the mother, but Abby often mentions her - Julie. Abby has presented a number of bruises on occasions but Stephen has assured me that these bruises were contracted from a seizure, he seems rushed and gives the impression that the medication would not be given to his daughter, but used for himself. Abby's bruises are non-consistent with post-seizure bruising, they are more consistent with abuse, social worker has been informed but has yet to act due to insufficient evidence. I am worried about Abby's safety._" Horatio read with a frown while he placed his free hand on his hip. _Could this be a link with her disappearance?_ Horatio wondered as he put the paper down and then opened the blind to allow natural light into the dim room and then stepped back from the desk as he began to tap at his belt once more. He turned when he heard the familiar voices of his 3 other CSI's as they entered the house through the garage.

"Hey H, what have we got?" Ryan questioned as he stopped by the door of the study, kit in hand and looking ready to crack on.

"Calleigh, take the bedroom upstairs please. Mr Wolfe, will you please process this room and Walter, you get everywhere else. Eric has got the kitchen. I'd like a thorough job guys, this woman is likely to be in danger," Horatio said firmly as he looked at all 3 of them as Calleigh and Ryan nodded at him.

"I got everything else? What have I done?" Walter questioned with a mild frown.

"Walter, you've got the easiest job. The other rooms seem uninhabited, don't complain. This is a serious matter," Horatio said firmly before he pulled his sunglasses from his neck and slipped them on as he headed for the double doors in the kitchen and began to search the back garden.

"What does this woman do with her life? Everything is so bare and sterile, it's like a creepy, abandoned home. It's got no heart; she can't look forward to coming back to this after work, surely?" Walter questioned Ryan loud enough for Horatio to hear. _The house is practically the same as mine, he's right, I don't look forward to going back to it, she must be the same. _Horatio thought as Walter's words made him come to the realisation that the doctor and he didn't have dissimilar lives.

"Well, it looks like she spent what time she had in the study, it's literally full of notes and books. This is going to take me all day and night to get through. She's probably got in excess of a thousand books in there and I bet she's read every single one. A lot of them seem to be related to her job too," Ryan replied to Walter. _I spend my life in the study too, if I'm not in there I'm sleeping._ Horatio sighed to himself as he looked at the un-touched flower bed in front of him.

"H, I've got something." Eric called as he stood at the double doors and looked over to Horatio who was crouched beside a flower bed just staring at them with hundreds of thoughts fleeting through his mind. He stood up and made his way in. "I've got something in the cupboard, I think we're going to have to step up this search; I think she's in a lot more danger than we first thought," Eric explained and Horatio frowned at him as he followed Eric into the kitchen.


	6. Chapter 6

Eric strode over to one of the cupboards as Horatio tilted his head at him but continued to follow closely. _What's he found in here?_ Horatio questioned himself as Eric opened it and then pulled out an epi-pen._ Medication, she's got an allergy._ Horatio thought as he took the pen with a gloved hand and looked at it closely.

"There's another in there too, usually they'll leave one home if they go out and take one with them. She wouldn't have left the house without the second one," Eric suggested and Horatio nodded as he forcefully exhaled and narrowed his eyes on the medication.

"Do we know what the allergy is? She could be in very serious danger if she comes into contact with the allergen," Horatio explained as he looked back up to Eric with an intense expression. _We have to find her soon, if the kidnapper doesn't kill her, something else could._ He thought as he placed his other hand on his hip while he studied the epi-pen in more detail.

"Well, from what is in the cupboards, I'd say it was a nut allergy as everything is nut free. I could be wrong and it could be something completely different, but a nut allergy is common," Eric replied and Horatio nodded as he looked back to Eric with an intense expression. He handed the epi-pen back to Eric and turned as he placed both hands upon his hips.

"Okay, let's step up this search guys, Rebecca has an allergy to nuts, she doesn't have her medication on her so let's find her as soon as we can," Horatio raised his voice so everyone could hear.

* * *

"Eric, what have you got for me?" Horatio questioned sharply as he strode over to Eric who held a file in his hand.

"The blood you found in the kitchen isn't found in the database, so it could be Rebecca's but it could also be our kidnapper," he explained to Horatio and Horatio nodded as he took the file to look over himself. _He's right, it isn't a match but it is more than likely Rebecca's blood._ Horatio thought with a heavy sigh while he placed his free hand upon his hip. _But she could have fought back and harmed the kidnapper, leaving him bleeding. _Horatio wondered, but knew that is what he wanted to believe rather than what he actually believed.

"Horatio, there was no evidence of sexual activity in the bedroom, so I don't think she was raped, certainly not there anyway," Calleigh explained as she sauntered into the lab confidently to hand Horatio the file she had. Nodding, he took the slim file from her outstretched hand and opened it to browse her notes and test results. Both Eric and Calleigh remained silent while they observed Horatio read the information they'd given him. He placed both files back down on the desk as he pressed his lips together; he clearly wasn't satisfied but gave them both a slow nod. It wasn't them he wasn't satisfied with, it was the evidence, or lack of it.

"Run a DNA check against the hair in her hairbrush against the blood found in the kitchen. At least then we'll rule out Rebecca's blood if it's not a match," Horatio ordered as he placed one hand on his hip. They both nodded at him and each picked up the file they'd given Horatio. "Where is Mr Wolfe?" Horatio questioned as he glanced around with narrowing eyes.

"He's looking through all of the files he found in the study and the laptop too," Calleigh replied and he nodded.

"Thank you," he appreciatively replied as he walked out to find Ryan and Walter reading through the sheets of paper that were sprawled across the large glass desk.

"Gentlemen, have you got anything?" Horatio quizzed as he entered the room with his sunglasses in his left hand. Bored and frustrated, Ryan and Walter sat back and peered up at Horatio.

"Not yet H, there is so much here, it's going to take all night. Are you sure we should be looking here?" Ryan questioned Horatio who nodded as he looked down to the table. _If this were me missing, the place to look would be my study to find anything at all out about me._ Horatio thought while he set his eyes intensely back on Ryan. _I wonder if they've found anything else out on Stephen and Abby Wells?_ Horatio pondered as he tried to ignore the glum expression Ryan used to look back to him with.

"Yes, her work is her life. Have you come across a patient named Abby Wells?" Horatio questioned as he turned to have his shoulder facing them and brought his right hand around to the front to begin fiddling with the sunglasses. Walter nodded as he began to flick back through the pile of paper to his right.

"A few times H," Walter said as he pulled a few pieces of paper from the pile and then handed them to Horatio who briefly scanned them as he held them at arm's length. Exhaling heavily while he browsed the notes in more detail, he realised they were mostly the same as what he'd already read, but dated back months. _She notified child services 4 times, but they didn't do anything?_ Horatio asked himself and wanted more information as he could feel his gut instinct firing up each time that particular case was brought to light.

"Have you found anything on her laptop?" Horatio questioned as he put the papers back down and looked towards Ryan with his expression intensifying.

"No, Cooper is still working on it. Everything is encrypted as it's obviously got a lot of confidential things on there," Ryan replied and Horatio nodded.

"Look into the father of this patient, Rebecca seemed to be on to something and I'm not sure the father of this little girl appreciated her hard work. Call it a hunch," Horatio said firmly and they nodded at him and got back to work after he walked out. He walked back to his office and closed the door after him. He sighed as he slunk down into his chair and ran one hand through his hair before his eyes were drawn to something that was not on his desk before he'd left. He lifted the picture with a post-it attached to it.

"_H, Jake Bannismith dropped this off – the woman on the left is Rebecca Henderson. Frank." _Horatio peeled the post-it from the picture and raised the picture to get a good look at it. He mildly knitted his brow as he looked at the two women in the picture. Both were smiling brightly whilst someone snapped the picture of them, his eyes narrowed on her radiant blue eyes and dazzling white smile. His frown deepened as he noticed the scar under her left ear which travelled up into her hair. _I knew I know this woman from somewhere, I recognise her, but from where? I know that scar, I've seen it before._ Horatio thought to himself as he put the picture down and continued to stare at it. Thinking hard, he began to tap the desk a little more firmly. _36 years old? She doesn't even look a day over 30. Where have I seen her? Have I spoken to her before?_ Horatio thought as he pushed the chair back as he stood up with a heavy exhale.

He stalked out of his office, heavy footed and into the room Ryan and Walter was in to help out with the search. He sat down next to Walter and started looking through the documents to see Stephen Wells name come up many times. _It's got to be something to do with him. I know it's to do with him. _Horatio believed as he got up again and walked out without saying a word, taking his smouldering intensity with him which allowed both Ryan and Walter to breathe freely. Horatio wasn't even sure where to base himself, he knew he was dipping in to the case at different angles and points to try and get a greater view on everything but knew that was causing more frustration for himself. He could feel his mind filling with information on the case; something had him anchored to it which didn't even allow for a seconds rest. _Another restless night tonight I assume, what's the point in even heading to bed these days? I never sleep anyway; it'll be far more productive to stay at the laptop working until I drop into the darkness against my will._ Horatio exhaled as he collapsed into his office chair once more.

* * *

The next morning, Horatio returned to his office, tired and hungry. He'd even skipped his morning coffee and slice of toast to get into work even faster. He slumped at his desk and stared at his computers log in screen blankly. _I should have had that coffee, actually. I know I can't properly function without it._ He realised as he sluggishly rose back to his feet. Languidly, he entered the empty break-room to fix himself a coffee. All except he had a mug in the cupboard as he never gave himself time for a break. He picked up a cardboard cup used for the vending machine and made himself the hot beverage.

Walking back to his office with the steaming coffee in his hand, many of his colleagues glanced at him but he didn't dare make any eye contact with them. _It's like they've never seen me turn up early before, that or I've forgotten to dress myself._ Horatio grumbled while the night-shift staff still powered on strong. He glanced down to himself to make sure that he had in fact dressed himself, to which he found he was fully clothed though perhaps not as neatly as usual. Once he'd entered the dim room that was his office, he kicked the door closed and set the coffee on his desk to tuck his shirt into his pants fully.

Sinking back down into his chair, he slowly put his password into the computer, tapping at the keyboard with no more than two fingers. Before he did anything else, he took a sip of the grey looking coffee. _That's coffee? It tastes more like metal to me._ Horatio thought as he winced and pressed his lips together after the hot liquid had passed down his oesophagus. He glanced back to the foul-tasting coffee before he lifted it to his lips again as he knew he needed the caffeine. _How they managed to drink this is beyond me, perhaps I'll buy them a decent tin of coffee next time I'm out shopping._ He thought as he swallowed the next distasteful slurp. Feeling a little more alert, he sat forwards once he was half-way through the coffee and tapped at the keyboard. _I wonder if there's anything on Mr Stephen Wells. _Horatio thought to himself and then frowned at the result he was presented with.

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**I'd like to thank all who have read and reviewed, especially Teeheehee123 & Jasmine105 who have given me some incredible tips and constructive criticism - they are the main reason for the improvement on my first chapter! Also a huge thanks to baglady101, olliebella and HEHC4evr for the continueous support and superb reviews! Many others have also contibuted, so thank you all! All of the reviews I've recieved have been amazing! **


	7. Chapter 7

He clicked on the top link while he pressed his lips together. _The only Stephen Wells of Miami died 12 years ago in a shootout involving police? Maybe this Stephen Wells is from out of state?_ Horatio speculated and then looked deeper into the case. He looked back to the picture that had been placed on his desk the previous day and picked it up again, allowing his eyes to scrutinise the photo once more.

_What would anyone want with a doctor, someone who helps children every day?_ The Lieutenant pondered as he put the photo back down and began to think of where he'd seen her before once more._ Has she been a witness? Has she been a victim? I usually remember the victims very well, so she can't be._ He thought as he sat forward and finished the coffee before idly throwing the cup into the trash.

_Maybe there's something on Abby Wells?_ _I wish Rebecca had given us details on this family, a number or address would be extremely helpful, then again I guess they were just her personal notes. _Horatio wondered before he sluggishly typed her name in, only to come up with nothing on the specific Abby Wells he'd hoped to find something on. _What was her mother's name? It was in her notes? Julie?_ He thought back and then typed in the mother's name to come up with an interior designer that was based in Miami. The Lieutenant clicked on the link and then wrote down the contact number for her before he glanced down to his watch. _I can't exactly call her yet, she's probably still asleep._ Horatio thought with a sigh before he picked up the pile of files that had appeared overnight on his desk, knowing that he wouldn't get anywhere further with Rebecca's case without a call to the family in question.

* * *

Suddenly, Horatio sprang awake at his desk when there was a thunderous knock on his door. He leant back in the seat and pinched the bridge of his nose while he poised himself. Sitting up straight, he surveyed his desk to certify that what little he had was presentable and in its place.

"Come in," he invited as he sat back and covered a yawn with his hand. Horatio straightened his jacket out before he saw Frank open the door. Frank took a moment to study his colleague while he stood in the doorway. _He looks worse than he did yesterday, has he had any sleep?_ Frank asked himself while Horatio remained silent, waiting for Frank to say what he'd visited Horatio for.

"H, you're going to want to come out here," Frank said as he made eye contact with his drained colleague.

"What's going on, Frank?" Horatio asked as he stood up and flicked the computer monitor off before he picked up his sunglasses. Hearing the sincerity in Frank's voice had fully roused Horatio from his sleepy daze as he ambled around the desk and followed his colleague.

"We've got a bit of a situation, H. Do you know anything more about Rebecca Henderson's disappearance?" Frank questioned as they hurried towards the front desk.

"No, I'm looking into something regarding one of her patients, but so far, nothing to take a firm lead," Horatio replied and Frank nodded as he placed a hand on his hip and looked towards the Lieutenant who walked by his side.

"Anything to do with a woman named Julie Wells?" Frank questioned and Horatio looked to his right and studied Frank's intense facial expression. _How would Frank know anything about Julie Wells?_ The Lieutenant mused.

"Yes, I was going to give her a call this morning," Horatio replied while be began to knit his brow, expressing his confusion and concern to Frank.

"It doesn't look like you're going to need the phone after all, H. This is Julie Wells, the mother of Abby Wells," Frank explained just as they stopped by the desk. Standing tall, but clearly distressed, a petite blonde woman spoke to officers.

"Mrs Wells?" Horatio questioned gently to announce his arrival. As she turned to set eyes on the Lieutenant, her extreme desperation became clear.

"Are you Lieutenant Caine?" She quizzed immediately while she stepped forwards and clutched her handbag close to her body. Her eyes had dried, but the tears that remained in her eyes were obvious.

"I am ma'am, I am Lieutenant Horatio Caine, how may we help you?" Horatio replied warmly as he tilted his head and fiddled with his sunglasses with both hands.

"Please, you have to find my daughter!" she begged Horatio as she stepped closer to him before she broke down in tears and raised both hands to her face. Horatio gave Frank a nod and he back before he strode off, leaving the Lieutenant with the hysterical blonde.

"Let's take a seat, Mrs Wells," Horatio said warmly as he gestured to a couple of chairs at the side of the entrance hall. He walked with her and lightly placed his hand on her upper arm and then sat with her. "Ma'am, can you please explain to me where and when you last saw your daughter, and also give me details of her?" Horatio asked and she nodded as she turned on the seat slightly to face him properly.

"I woke up this morning and I went to wake her, but she wasn't in bed. I searched the house and yard and she wasn't there! I put her to bed myself, Lieutenant! My baby is gone, you've got to help me, please," she begged Horatio as she reached over and took a light hold of his forearm. He looked from his sunglasses, to his forearm and then up at her with a sympathetic expression.

"Ma'am, I can assure you that I will do everything I can to find your daughter, her name wouldn't happen to be Abby, would it?" Horatio asked warmly as he tilted his head more and maintained eye contact with the teary-eyed woman.

"Yes, yes it is! Here's a picture of her, please find my baby," she begged as she handed Horatio a photograph. Looking down at the photo in his left hand while he clutched his sunglasses in his right hand, the Lieutenant studied the little girl who had light blonde hair and wide green eyes, smiling with a teddy in her hand.

"How old is she?" Horatio asked smoothly as he looked back up to the distressed mother.

"She's 10, she's 11 next week, please don't tell me my baby is going to miss her 11th birthday, please!" The blonde haired, green-eyed woman begged him. Looking back to the photo and listening to the extreme anxiety and anguish in her voice, Horatio felt a torrent of determination punch him hard. _This is linked in with Rebecca, I find the girl, I find Rebecca too._ Horatio believed as he began to nod. The tormented woman could see the conviction in the Lieutenants eyes as he set them back on her.

"Ma'am, I will make it my mission to find her. May I ask you a few questions regarding your daughter and your husband?" Horatio questioned delicately to which she nodded at him.

"If it's going to help find her then ask away, and please call me Julie," she said as she looked into Horatio's calming blue eyes. _Her husband is up to something, he's in the middle of all of this, I know it._ Horatio thought.

"Where is your husband, Julie?" the Lieutenant asked smoothly.

"He's at work, he starts early in the mornings, I get Abby ready in the mornings, take her to school, he picks her up and looks after her after work while I work until 7," she explained and Horatio nodded.

"And where might I find your husband now?" Horatio questioned as he held both the photo and his sunglasses together as he give her his complete attention.

"He's at work, he owns the company, it's just a small company that loans out trucks for big retailers and also has specific trucks manufactured to the retailers specification," she said as she pulled out one of his business cards.

"Does he know about Abby's disappearance right now?" Horatio questioned as he inclined his head more to maintain gentle eye contact.

"Yes, I rang him as soon as I realised Abby was gone, he said that she was there before he left as he always looks in on her. He's had to stay at work, but wants to know everything. We are willing to pay anything to get our baby girl back," she said as she pulled some tissues from her bag and dried her eyes as Horatio nodded and glanced to the floor pensively.

"What time did your husband leave for work this morning, Julie?" Horatio asked as he looked back to her. She blinked a few times as she studied his brooding expression, feeling slightly confused about why he wanted to know about her husband.

"Erm, about 5 this morning I think. I was still asleep when he left, I quite often have late nights as I work when Abs has gone to bed to make up for the time I spend with her when I get home around 6, I try and make it home earlier if I can. I have to put her to bed, she'll refuse to go otherwise," Julie said softly with a small smile, imagining putting her daughter to bed again as she looked down at the tissue in her hands. "She always wants me to read her the same story, then tuck her in before goodnight kisses. Don't tell me that I'm never going to see my baby again, please," she begged as she looked back to Horatio, somewhat calmer but still fearful.

"You will see her again, Julie. I've got one more question, if that's okay?" Horatio questioned gently and the blonde woman nodded at him. "Does the name Rebecca Henderson seem familiar?" he asked, hungry for information on Rebecca, but also itching to begin the search for the little girl. _They are linked, I am certain of it. I don't think her husband is working at all._ Horatio thought to himself with his lips hardening and his hold on his sunglasses and photo tightening.

"Yes, she's Abby's doctor, Stephen deals with that as I'm always at work when she has her appointments with her," she explained softly and Horatio nodded as he glanced down to the floor again.

"Julie, can you tell me why Abby sees Rebecca?" Horatio questioned warmly while he looked back up at her. _She doesn't know anything about what's going on, does she? She doesn't know that Rebecca is concerned about Abby._ He ruminated with a sigh.

"She suffers with epilepsy, Stephen has mentioned Doctor Henderson a couple of times, he said that she's a little up-tight," Julie admitted and Horatio nodded as he glanced down to the floor. _She really doesn't know, her husband has been lying to her about her own daughter._ The Lieutenant thought as he tensed slightly, feeling irate towards her husband.

"Have you ever seen her experience a seizure?" Horatio queried and Julie shook her head.

"No, but Stephen has, Abby has really hurt herself before but Stephen seems to be able to manage her really well, she doesn't usually cry when Stephen is around, but some of her injuries must really hurt, he seems to have a special touch when it comes to her. Her medication doesn't seem to be working, but I still make sure she takes it every morning in case it is helping a little. Stephen said he's been on at Doctor Henderson for more medication," Julie said warmly and Horatio nodded. _A special touch… I'm not sure it's the sort of special touch she's thinking of._ Horatio believed with a silent sigh.

"Could you do me a favour please and bring in Abby's medication?" Horatio asked warmly when he started to sense a strong connection between the disappearance of the little girl, the doctor and the husband.

"I've got it right here Lieutenant, I brought everything I thought you might need, and some stuff for DNA," she replied as she handed him the plastic bag that she had pulled out from her handbag. He opened it and reached in to pull out an orange pill pot. Opening the pot, he dropped one pill into his palm and began to study it intimately. _This isn't a drug for epilepsy; it doesn't have any inscription on the tablet itself. All prescription drugs have imprints to help identify them, don't they?_ Horatio thought as he turned the pot to read it after he put the pill back. _Bogus pill pot too; it has been falsified and written over._ Horatio thought as he put the lid back on. Hearing strong footsteps coming from his left, the Lieutenant looked over and saw Calleigh about to pass.

"Morning Calleigh, will you please run that to tell me what it is?" Horatio requested as he held up the pot while she stopped by him with a bright smile.

"Of course Horatio, I'll get you the results as quickly as I can," Calleigh replied as she gently took the pot from him and then began to stroll away after giving the upset woman a gentle, reassuring smile.

"Thank you," Horatio replied and then looked back to Julie as she looked down to her thighs and pressed her lips together as she shook her head, becoming upset again.

"She didn't have her tablets this morning Lieutenant, she could have a seizure wherever she is, she could die," Julie said quietly and knitted her brow, expressing her concern.

"Julie, I don't want you to worry about that, okay? We will find Abby," he assured her as he looked back into the bag to see a small hairbrush and a few other things. "You might want to call your husband in though so he can be of some support at this difficult time," he suggested and Julie shook her head. _I bet he won't come in, we'll have to pay him a visit if that's the case._ Horatio thought as he felt his blood beginning to simmer.

"I did ask, Lieutenant, but he said he can't leave work, he's seeing a lot of clients today and has a big deal coming up, he can't back out of it now," she explained and Horatio nodded. _Seeing lots of clients? I don't think so, I think he's seeing to Rebecca and his daughter. Why would he take his daughter and make his wife think she's missing? _He pondered before he looked back to Julie and saw her anguish.

"Okay Julie, you sit tight for a moment, I will be back," Horatio assured her and she nodded as he stood up. She watched him walk away before she put her head in her hands.

Marching into the lab Calleigh was in, he observed his colleague put a sample of one of the tablets into the compound analyser. She looked up at him to see his burning need for the results while he held a strong stance and fiddled with his sunglasses slowly.

"What's this for, Horatio?" Calleigh asked warmly, leaning on the desk towards him. He looked up at her for a brief second before he changed his position to have his shoulder facing her and looked down to the floor, adding to the intensity in the atmosphere.

"Well Calleigh, I think her husband is our lead. Rebecca is her daughters doctor, but in her notes she said that she was reluctant to prescribe any medication as she doesn't think that Abby, Julie's daughter has epilepsy, but Julie here seems to think that Abby does have epilepsy and takes this 'medication' for it. Rebecca hasn't prescribed anything," Horatio explained as he watched the computer screen, eager to know the results.

"So you're thinking that this is a placebo?" Calleigh asked and Horatio nodded as he looked to the floor with his sunglasses in both hands.

"I think this is a case of child abuse and he's got something to do with the disappearance of both the little girl and the doctor," Horatio replied as he looked back to Calleigh.

"That is quite a big accusation, Horatio, we don't have any evidence to back that claim up," Calleigh said as she placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head at Horatio, knitting her brows together.

"Hold tight, Calleigh, we will," Horatio assured her as the analysis completed and she turned the computer screen to give Horatio a better look.

"Well, you are right about the pills, they're placebos," Calleigh said and Horatio nodded as he glanced down to his sunglasses in his hands. _I knew I was right._ Horatio thought before he looked to his colleague and gave her a thankful nod before he headed back out over to the woman who was sat in the same place.

"Julie, are sure these are the pills that your daughter takes?" Horatio questioned warmly as he sat back down next to her and showed her the pot once more.

"Yes, she's been on them ever since she saw Doctor Henderson," Julie replied quietly as she looked to Horatio and blinked the tears filling her eyes away. Taking a deep breath, the Lieutenant looked back to the small orange container before he slowly exhaled.

"Julie, these are placebos, they're nothing more than sugar," Horatio explained delicately as he set his eyes back on hers. He could see her becoming confused as she looked from him to the pills and back.

"I don't understand Lieutenant, why would a doctor prescribe sugar?" she asked as she furrowed her brow and sat up straight while she tilted her head.

"The doctor didn't prescribe anything, so can you tell me where these came from?" Horatio asked in a calm demeanour and dropped the pills back into the bag he had in he'd left on the seat beside him. _She didn't even know that, her husband has a lot of explaining to do, I think._ He thought as he looked back to her.

"How would I know? I thought they came from the doctor; Stephen turned up with them one day and collects them from the pharmacy every Friday at the end of the month. He said that the doctor prescribed them," she said as she lightly shook her head and genuinely couldn't offer Horatio any more information. "Why are you questioning me about all of this anyway? My baby is missing, surely you should be focussing on that?" she asked while she knitted her brow more.

"Ma'am, Doctor Henderson has also been missing for a couple of days, I believe that the disappearance of your daughter is linked, so any information you can give me on Doctor Henderson too, might lead to the finding of your daughter all the quicker," Horatio calmly explained and Julie ran her hand through her hair. Horatio quietly waited for her to think to herself while he also took the opportunity to absorb and mull over all information he'd just obtained.

"I've got nothing more, I'm so sorry," she said as she looked back to Horatio after thinking for a few minutes.

"Anything? Any letters from her?" Horatio questioned and Julie shook her head, seemingly becoming more upset while she began to realise that her husband had also been lying to her.

"Stephen always insisted on shredding documents like that, he's always concerned with privacy and identity fraud," she explained and Horatio exhaled steadily and nodded before he looked back to the floor. _That doesn't surprise me._ He thought to himself.

"Okay Julie, thank you for your time. We will do our best to find Abby, here's my number if you think of anything else, okay? Call me if you think of something, it doesn't matter how small it is," Horatio said and she nodded as she stood up with him.

"Thank you Lieutenant, I hope you find her doctor too," she said and Horatio nodded as he pressed his lips together. Tapping at his belt, he watched her walk away before he turned to head to his office where he picked up the phone and immediately called the husband on the number Julie had provided.

"Hello, Stephen Wells here, how may I help you?" A man asked brightly on the end of the phone.

"Mr Wells, this is Lieutenant Caine of the CSI Crime Lab, you can help me by coming in to answer a few questions regarding your missing daughter," Horatio said clearly, calmly before he pressed his lips together and looked to the photo of Rebecca.

"Er, hi Lieutenant Caine, I'm currently very busy, my wife should have been able to answer any questions you have," he said as he sounded like he rustled some paper around, Horatio also noticed the slightly worried tone in his voice, but knew the worry was not about his daughter.

"Your wife had been very helpful, but we'd like to ask you a few questions in person, is that okay?" Horatio questioned as he looked to the blank wall of his office. _I don't think it's going to be convenient for him to come and answer the questions._ Horatio thought as he waited for an answer.

"I really am very busy at the moment, it isn't possible for me to leave the site at the moment," he replied and Horatio sighed with a nod, he knew he was right.

"It's entirely possible for me to come to the site myself if that makes it easier, you do want to find your daughter, don't you?" Horatio replied a little abrasively.

"Of course I want to find her," he paused and then exhaled. "Let me lock up and I'll be there in a couple of hours, is that okay?" he questioned and Horatio pressed his lips together.

"It will have to be okay," Horatio said before he hung up in frustration. _I'll send some officers over to make sure he gets here alright._ He told himself as he leant forwards on the desk and took a deep breath before he got up and marched out. Entering the lab Eric and Walter were working in, he placed his hands upon his hips.

"Gentlemen, have you got anything for me?" Horatio questioned as he stopped by the end of the desk and looked down to the evidence they were examining.

"We've got prints, H, but the thing is they belong to a dead man," Eric replied as he looked up to Horatio and then picked up the file he had in his hand. The Lieutenant outstretched his hand to take the file from his colleague. A clear frown developed on Horatio's face as he browsed the results and information.

"Where were these prints found, Eric?" Horatio inquired as he put the file down and began to fiddle with his sunglasses, thinking to himself and mindlessly watching what Walter was doing. _Paul Gunner, who's this man? What are his prints doing at Rebecca's house and how? He's deceased, or his file says so anyway._ Horatio wondered while his frown strengthened.

"They were found on the handle of Rebecca's back door, also on the staircase. I'm more than sure that this is our kidnapper," Eric replied and Horatio nodded. "Paul Gunner has got quite a rap sheet, mainly theft and fraud," Eric explained and Horatio nodded with a thinking expression.

"He's dead though… just how does a dead man break into a doctor's house and take her from her bed?" Horatio questioned as he let go of the sunglasses with one hand to place his hand on his hip.

"Well, he can't be dead," Walter replied and Horatio looked over to him and raised his eyebrows, it was clear that the Lieutenant wasn't too impressed with his colleagues sarcastic response.

"I think we've determined that by the finger prints, Walter," Horatio replied and Walter looked back down to the desk with a small nod. "I'll be talking with the father of our missing girl soon, if you get anything on either Rebecca or Abby, find me immediately," Horatio said and they both nodded at their boss.

"Of course, H," Eric replied before the Lieutenant traipsed out with his sunglasses in his right hand, taking his fiery vigour with him to his office.

"He just looked at me as if he was plotting murder, what's got into him? He's so tense at the moment. It's like he walks into the room and the air around him turns into a mess of flames," Walter said as he looked up to Eric.

"Well, a doctor is missing and a little girl is now also missing, it's clear that they're connected, who wouldn't be tense? They could both be in the hands of anyone," Eric replied and Walter nodded as he looked down, having been told by Eric.

"What are we going to do with this Paul guy then? I mean, on the system he is dead, how are we supposed to find a walking dead-man?" Walter questioned.

"I don't think we need to go far, he might be walking in to speak with Horatio soon," Eric replied and Walter snagged on to what he meant before he nodded at his colleague.

* * *

"Horatio, we've got a call about a little girl matching Abby Wells description," Frank said as he caught up with Horatio while he strolled down the hall.

"Where?" Horatio questioned Frank who handed him the address on a small note.

"Where's Mr Wells? What did patrol find at his office?" Horatio asked curiously.

"Nothing, no-one was in, H," Frank replied which caused Horatio to sigh heavily with a nod. The Lieutenant then nodded at his colleague and walked off at speed towards the elevator.

"Eric, Mr Wolfe, with me please; we've got a location on Abby Wells," Horatio said firmly as they walked past him. Both stopped and began to follow Horatio closely.

* * *

Arriving at the location, Horatio took a quick glance around before he turned the engine off. Ryan clambered out of his Hummer and hurried over to Eric and Horatio as they slammed their doors closed.

"So, where's this girl then?" Eric questioned as they all looked around with their hands on their hips. Turning on his heels, Horatio pulled his sunglasses off and observed the surroundings intensely.

"I've got her!" Horatio yelled as he began to run across the road. "Call animal control, now!" Horatio barked as he ran towards a tall metal wired fence.


	8. Chapter 8

Slipping his sunglasses around his neck, Horatio stopped and took hold of the tall 2m fence with both hands; he saw 5 alligators in the enclosed space with the missing young girl. His wide eyes explored the enclosure while his heart pounded violently in his chest. Radioing for back-up, Eric sprinted after Horatio with Ryan by his side. The Lieutenant examined the enclosure meticulously in an effort to find a way in without having to climb the fence. Looking around, he saw nothing but a small gate that led off the back yard of a dilapidated house to his right. _It's abandoned and boarded up, we can't get through._ He thought to himself, he knew what he had to do and knew he had to do it quickly when he set his eyes back on the terrified child. _I've got to get her out of there now, she doesn't have the time to wait for animal control; they're getting too close to her._ Horatio thought seriously as he could see the animals trying to reach her by climbing over each other. With every beat of his heart he felt another surge of adrenaline choke his blood, driving his need to rescue the frightened girl deeper.

"Abby sweetheart, I'm going to get you out of there, don't worry. I'm Horatio Caine, I'm a police officer," Horatio called loudly and clearly as he looked at the little girl who'd climbed on top of the wooden child's play-house that stood in the middle of the enclosure. She was only a couple of meters off the floor, but the alligators were swarming around her. She looked at Horatio while she whimpered quietly and hugged her knees to her chest as she nodded at him. "I'm coming sweetheart, don't you worry," Horatio assured her as he began to climb the wired fence.

"H, what are you doing? Animal control will be here soon!" Eric said quietly as he knitted his brow at his colleague who'd scaled the fence quickly.

"Look how close she's to those 'gators, she's terrified, I've got to get her out of there now," Horatio responded tenaciously as he jumped down to the other side of the fence. Pulling his gun from his holster, he looked back to Abby and observed the alligators around her.

"Abby, you might want to cover your ears sweetheart, there might be a few loud noises, can you do that for me?" Horatio questioned as he focussed on her exclusively but with keeping the dangerous animals in his sight too. The little girl slowly covered her ears as she looked up to Horatio but continued to sob. Horatio nodded at her and then gave her a warm, reassuring smile when her eyes made contact with his. Feeling the thumping of his heart become more forceful, he raised the weapon and took aim at the nearest alligator in case he needed to shoot. _Shooting one will only agitate and scare the rest, which could end badly for both Abby and myself._ Horatio supposed as he glanced over to his left when he heard Ryan beginning to shout as he pulled on the fence, making a loud noise. Looking back to the 5 alligators that had swarmed around the little girl, two had broken off and charged towards Ryan who quickly backed off from the fence but continued to keep their attention.

"Sweetheart, if you count to 10, you'll be safe then. I'm on my way," Horatio called loudly and she nodded at him. Taking a couple of cautious steps forwards, he heard the hiss of an irate reptile. "I can't hear you counting, Abby, count so I can hear you too sweetheart," Horatio called again as he began to slowly move towards the girl with his weapon trained on the reptile's head. Clenching his jaw, he looked at the animal that was warning him off loudly before he felt another burst of adrenaline saturate his bloodstream.

"2…3…4," Horatio listened to the girl count and continued to make his way over to her while he tried his best to keep low and quiet. _These 'gators have been put here intentionally, this isn't anywhere near a river, this is just someone's old yard, no food or water around. Why would Stephen put his daughter in with dangerous animals?_ _It has to be him. When I get my hands on him, he's going to wish he'd never been born._ Horatio mused just before he froze when an alligator moved towards him with its jaw wide open, exposing it's many jagged teeth. Listening to it hiss at him just as Abby reached number 7, he felt one large thud in his chest, causing him to dash towards scared child. _It's now or never._ Horatio thought while the alligator snapped its jaws at the Lieutenant who'd noticed that there was a pungent stench around the girl, coming from inside the play-house. _What's that smell, is it decomp? That's why they're attracted to her, there's something rotting in there._ _It can't be Rebecca, can it? I don't have time to check._ Horatio thought as he reached out for the little girl while he tried to get a look into the dark play-house through a smashed window. It was too dark in there to see anything so he quickly gave up and solely concentrated on the child.

"You're safe sweetheart, I've got you," Horatio assured her as he pulled her off the roof of the play-house and held her against his chest. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck as he shot his firearm down at the alligator that nearly caught his leg with its powerful mouth. The reptile instantly stopped and collapsed to the floor while the blonde girl shrieked and tightened her grip around Horatio's neck.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, you're safe," Horatio said as he began to briskly make his way towards Eric, but couldn't go faster as the little girl was slightly too heavy for him to run with as he only held her up with one arm. He'd kept his weapon out in his right hand, ready to shoot at the first sign of any threat again.

"Eric, I need help here," Horatio requested clearly before he watched his colleague put his gun away to climb the fence himself to assist.

"H!" Ryan and Eric shouted simultaneously as 3 alligators charged after their boss. Horatio glanced back and then began to run, managing to put his gun back in the holster to gain a better hold of the girl. Jumping at the fence, he grabbed it with his right hand while he held the little girl close to his body with his other arm. He could feel his heart fluttering in his chest, but before he had time to even think about relief of getting out alive, he felt a set of powerful jaws snap and catch the bottom of his trousers. Trying his best not to yell when he felt a tooth or two slice through his calf muscle he looked up at Eric who'd reached down for the girl.

"Eric, get her," Horatio choked once the searing hot pain struck him fully. The CSI quickly pulled the little girl up and out of Horatio's arm which allowed him to try and get higher, but the Lieutenant could feel the reptile pulling fiercely on his leg. Gritting his teeth to stop the loud groan that was about to escape is throat, he glanced back to see two more hungry animals nearing him. He looked back to Eric who'd begun to climb down a little to hand the girl to Ryan while he felt his heart nearly explode in his chest. Single heartbeats seemed to merge into one when Horatio realised that rescuing the little girl could easily become a disaster for him. Not even the torrent of adrenaline that had been released could give him the extra boost needed to help free him.


	9. Chapter 9

With his heart thrashing fiercely, Eric gently but quickly passed the little girl down to Ryan who'd reached up for her. Once the little girl was away from the commotion and safe, Eric bent back over the fence and took hold of his boss's wrists.

"I've got you, H!" Eric yelled as the Lieutenant looked back up at him with agony unmistakably obvious in his strained blue eyes. "H let go; I've got you!" Eric exclaimed as his grip tightened around his wrists. Finally letting go of the fence, Horatio took hold of his colleagues wrists with his silent mind beginning to prattle away. _Has that 'gator just taken my foot off? I don't want to look._ Horatio asked himself when the insufferable pain began to shoot up his leg. _It's taken my whole foot off, it has, hasn't it?_ Horatio fretted when he couldn't tell which part of his leg the pain was coming from.

The ripping of his trousers echoed in Horatio's ears, it felt like a decade passed with every second and every violent beat of his heart. He heard the blood pulsating through his arteries it was so forceful, he could feel every pulsation so clearly. Suddenly, Horatio felt the hungry animals teeth tear through his calf and exit just as his trousers ripped completely, freeing him. Eric managed to haul his boss up to safety before pulling him over the fence and falling back, taking the Lieutenant with him. Landing heavily on his colleague, Horatio heard the groan escape the CSI when every atom of air was forced from his lungs. Looking down at the dead grass they lay on, the Lieutenant took a second to bring himself back to reality after his empty life flashed before his eyes. He then pushed himself up off Eric and knelt beside him, trying to keep as much weight off his left leg as much as possible. _I think my foot is still attached?_ Horatio thought but looked back to Eric instead of checking himself out.

"Thank you," Horatio said sincerely and nearly breathless as he took hold of his colleagues hand and pulled him up to a sitting position. Breathing deeply himself Eric looked back to his boss and nodded.

"No problem, just don't do that again, please?" Eric questioned as he knitted his brow profoundly.

"It's in my best interest not to, Eric," the Lieutenant replied before they both exhaled one chuckle due to the adrenaline still lingering in their bloodstreams. Both men then climbed to their feet and brushed the dust and dirt from their suits before they glanced back to the alligators. _That was a lucky escape._ Horatio told himself as his eyes narrowed on the reptile that had chomped on his leg with the other 3 next to it up against the fence. Noticing the black material and blood in its mouth he quickly turned away.

"Where's Abby?" Horatio questioned as he looked to his colleague and drew his attention away from the bloody mouthed alligator.

"She's with Ryan," Eric replied as he looked towards their Hummers while Horatio exhaled heavily while he gritted his teeth hard. Looking down to the dead grass he pressed his lips tightly together to try and deal with the throbbing pain shooting up the back of his leg as well as the sting from the open wound. "Are you alright?" Eric questioned his boss when he saw the discomfort in his eyes and facial expression. Looking back up to his colleague with a nod, the Lieutenant put more weight on his left leg to look like he was standing naturally. Eric nodded himself as Horatio had managed to hide every ounce of pain behind his invisible armour that he'd put back up.

"How about you?" Horatio questioned as they began to slowly walk towards Ryan.

"I'm good H, but I didn't get attacked by an alligator," he replied and watched his boss stop when the bitter discomfort struck him once more. Feeling his sock become sodden with blood, he knew it would only be a short matter of time before people noticed how severe his injury is. _I don't even want to look at it, it's probably just a scratch._ Horatio thought to himself, but knew he was lying to himself while he exhaled violently to push the pain away. Having started walking again, Eric noticed that Horatio was attempting to conceal a developing limp. "It did just catch your trousers, right?" Eric quizzed as he searched his bosses unreadable expression as they neared the Hummer and child.

Slowly crouching in front of the timid and confused little girl, Horatio made soothing eye contact with her, also ignoring his colleagues question.

"Hi Abby, how are you doing? Are you hurt anywhere sweetheart?" Horatio questioned warmly as he inclined his head to the side. Pulling his sunglasses from his neck to hold them in his left hand, he watched the child shake her head at him before she looked down.

"Sweetheart, you're safe okay?" he assured her quietly as he lowered his head further, allowing for at least a little eye contact with her.

"Can you tell me who put you in there with those nasty alligators?" Horatio asked delicately to try and coax the essential information out of her but she just shook her head once more. She swallowed and looked back into Horatio's caring eyes, it was clear she was terrified. _It must be her father, I bet he's threatened her._ Horatio thought to himself as he smoothly nodded at her.

"Okay sweetheart, no need to worry, you're safe now, I promise," Horatio said confidently but quickly changed position when his leg began to twinge painfully. Putting more weight on his right leg, he smiled at her tenderly once more.

"Shall we go and see Mommy? I think she'll be happy to see you, don't you?" Horatio queried as he held his right hand out towards her while holding his sunglasses in his left. Sealing her lips together she stepped forwards and lightly placed her small hand in Horatio's with a nod. Praising her Horatio very slowly stood up but continued to look down at her with reassuring, kind eyes.

"Do you see the car with the flashy lights?" Horatio asked warmly as he pointed towards one of the patrol cars that had pulled up. Once she'd nodded at him he then explained that she was going to head back in the vehicle.

"Delko, H is hurt," Ryan said when his eyes were drawn to his bloody calf and torn trouser leg. Both men narrowed their eyes in on their bosses leg and could see his shoe saturated with blood and leaving a small bloody trail each time his foot hit the floor.

"I knew he was, he said he was fine," Eric replied while he knitted his brow and looked back up at Horatio while he crouched in front of the little girl again to speak to her. _Why doesn't he admit when he's hurt?_ _He's clearly in pain, he's just trying his best to hide it. I guess that's just Horatio all over though._ Eric mused as he crossed his arms and studied Horatio closely.

Slipping his sunglasses on after helping the young girl into the back of the patrol car, Horatio slowly strolled back to his colleagues as if he were uninjured. _It's just a scratch._ Horatio told himself but he could feel the blood cascade down his skin and pool in his shoe. The blood that didn't collect in his shoe, oozed over the dry, dusty Earth below his foot. He glanced back and saw two animal control vans pull up and hurry over to the enclosure.

"Once animal control have cleared the enclosure, I want you both to process. We need to figure out where these 'gators came from and who put them there in the first place as our main suspect, Stephen Wells doesn't seem to have any experience with the animals. I also want you to check out the playhouse, I could smell decomp or rotting meat, I hope it's just meat to lure the alligators towards the girl, but it could also be–" Horatio ordered both men but Eric had cut him off to complete his boss's sentence.

"Rebecca?" Eric questioned and Horatio nodded with a sincere expression. _If that's Rebecca, Stephen Wells will be getting more than he bargained for._ Horatio thought to himself sinisterly.

"I want a thorough job, print the fence and check out that yard and house if you can that would have been the point of entry for these 'gators," Horatio commanded with his hands firmly on his hips. Nodding, Ryan turned and followed his boss's orders, collecting his kit on the way to start printing the fence.

"H, I'm going to come back with you, if that's okay?" Eric questioned quietly and Horatio crooked his head to the right at Eric, wanting an explanation. "Well, you're hurt H and you're going to need stitches in your leg but someone has to speak to Abby before she's released and I don't think she'll take well to someone she doesn't know after what she's been through, at least she knows I'm one of the good guys," Eric explained as he put his hands on his hips also. Taking a moment to look at his colleagues cordially expression the Lieutenant then began to shake his head in disagreement.

"Thank you for the concern, Eric, but I'm good," Horatio assured him while he concentrated on the slowing blood._ It's fine now anyway, it's barely bleeding anymore._ Horatio thought to himself when he could only feel a small trickle of blood rolling down his calf. _Typical Horatio; never accepting help, he shouldn't have gone in there in the first place._ Eric thought to himself as he sighed silently.

"H, that needs to be cleaned and stitched up, it'll get infected, and you can't even drive with that at the moment as you can barely walk," Eric replied as he gestured down to the puddle of blood behind his left foot. Horatio's pride was still dictating is responses, but he knew he'd struggle to drive and perhaps even put someone in danger if he had to react fast but his leg prevented him. _Let him drive… I'll send Walter out, he'd probably be more useful at the lab anyway._ Horatio mused as he glanced down to the floor with a completive expression.

"You'd be of more help at the lab, did you manage to find anything on Paul Gunner?" the Lieutenant questioned as he looked back to the large Hummer to their left, hoping that Eric wouldn't see his answer as him giving in.

"Thank you Horatio," Eric replied as he turned to the Hummer himself.

"Paul Gunner?" he probed as he tilted his head at Eric, he didn't move a muscle, he wasn't ready to leave until he knew the details. The CSI turned back to his boss and saw Horatio hungry for details.

"I think that Paul Gunner is Stephen Wells, but since Mr Wells didn't show up at the lab and no-one could find him at his office, we can't get a match for certain," Eric replied and Horatio nodded. _It would be logical to think that, Paul Gunner has been arrested for identity fraud before._ Horatio thought before he looked over to Ryan who'd kept away from the fence while animal control began to try and safely collect the alligators. Pulling his phone out, he messaged Walter to attend the scene before he looked back up at Ryan who'd moved further away when 4 animal control officers carried a large alligator past him.

"Mr Wolfe, Walter will be here soon," Horatio called loudly causing the CSI to look back and nod.

* * *

Subtly limping, Horatio entered the room Abby was sat in with a graceful and welcoming expression. Swinging her legs forward and back while she sat back on the large chair, she looked up at Horatio with an uncertain expression.

"May I sit down?" Horatio asked her warmly and she nodded while she bit her lip and watched him closely. He slowly pulled the chair out and sat down next to her before he clasped his hands together and leant on the glass table. She sat forwards and pulled the juice carton towards her to take a sip while Horatio began to fiddle with his sunglasses slowly. He observed the paper in front of her and saw that she'd been colouring which caused him to smile a little more as she seemed quite content and happy.

"How are you doing?" the Lieutenant asked smoothly as he glanced to the juice box she put down on the table and picked up another crayon while she nodded. Thoroughly examining everything about the child, he felt an ominous chasm perforate his stomach. _The bruising on her arms is looking quite extensive, they seem to be still forming too. It must've been from this morning. Her father must've dragged her from her bed. Rebecca tried her best to inform social services, I read the letters myself. It's clear that these bruises were not caused by a seizure at all, there's clearly hand marks around her upper arms and wrists. How did they not see this? How did her mother not notice? How many other children are slipping through the system?_ Horatio asked himself as he clenched one fist tightly and looked back down to his sunglasses to try and dissolve the fury he could feel building. The Lieutenant cleared his throat when he felt a searing shock of pain shoot through his calf which caused the young girl to look back up to him. He forced a smile while he exhaled steadily, pushing the pain away mentally. _I bet if a doctor were to examine her body, there'd be other bruises, her pajamas are covering her almost completely right now._ Horatio thought as he unclenched his fist.

"Sweetheart, can you tell me where you got those bruises?" Horatio asked sensitively while he angled his head to the right and explored her green eyes. _She wasn't worried a moment ago, not until I asked about the bruises, they were inflicted on her intentionally._ Horatio established while he continued with his easy smile and expression. She took a deep breath before she shook her head and continued to draw.

"Okay, don't worry sweetheart. Do you remember what happened today, Abby?" Horatio inquired cautiously, hoping not to push her too far but all she gave him was a shrug.

"Can you tell me anything?" Horatio asked before he cleared his throat again and changed position when another sharp sting overwhelmed his calf. She looked up at him again and shook her head as she studied his forced smile again before she concentrated back on the picture. Looking back down at his sunglasses, he sighed. _I'm not going to get anything out of her at all, I know._ Horatio thought as he sat back in the seat. With one hand he leant down and touched the back of his calf to feel that his trouser leg had fused to the wound and helped to clot the blood that was barely flowing down his leg any longer.

"Shall we go and see where Mommy is?" Horatio asked and she nodded as she dropped the crayon to the table and looked at Horatio. Slowly, the Lieutenant got up and pulled her chair out so she could easily get down. They then began to walk out when he felt her take hold of his hand while she walked closely to him.

"You're safe, I promise you," Horatio said warmly, sincerely as she looked up at him with an anxious expression. The girl let go of his hand a few minutes later when she saw her mother waiting with an officer. Halting in the middle of the hall, he pulled his sunglasses from his pocket and began to fiddle with them, he couldn't help but smile down at the floor after he'd witnessed her mother burst into tears as she picked her daughter up and hugged her lovingly. His smile only widened when he listened to the mother say a few heart-felt things to her child.

"Thank you, thank you so much Lieutenant," Julie thanked as she put her daughter down and stepped forwards to hug him warmly.

"It's my pleasure ma'am, Abby is fine but she's obviously a little shaken up at the moment. I will have an officer on duty with you until we can find this kidnapper. If Abby can tell you anything, then please call me as soon as you know, any information you have might help us find Dr Henderson alive," Horatio said as she stepped back and put her arm around the little girl while she nodded.

"Of course Lieutenant, thank you again, I can't thank you enough," she said sincerely. He gave her a warm smile and then smiled at Abby as she turned her head to look at Horatio.

"Take care now," Horatio said kindly as he placed his right hand on his hip and then watched both walk away but he couldn't help but think that the job was only half done. He pulled his phone out to see a message from Ryan. 'H, there was no body in the playhouse, it was just meat that was days old, Wolfe,' he read and then exhaled a heavy sigh of relief. _She's probably still alive somewhere, he must've taken her somewhere and is with her now if he's not at his office. He was probably never there in the first place this morning. _Horatio mused as he looked down to the floor with his smile slowly disappearing as his thoughts flipped back to Rebecca. Hearing his colleague call him, he turned back with a serious facial expression to see Eric walking over to him.

"H, you've got to go to the hospital, I can drive you," Eric said quietly and Horatio looked down to the floor with a heavy exhale as he shook his head.

"Eric, I am fine," Horatio assured him firmly as he placed both hands on his hips.

"H, you can barely stand on it now, how are you going to do anything if we do find Rebecca today? You're not going to be able to put up a chase if needed, are you?" Eric questioned while he knitted his brow together and looked Horatio in the eye. Horatio quickly broke the eye contact and looked down to the floor, pressing his lips together tightly. _I'm fine._ Horatio stubbornly told himself.

"I want you to put out a BOLO for Stephen… Paul," Horatio instructed his colleague before he marched off in the opposite direction. Eric heavily sighed as he looked down to Horatio's leg and just shook his head before he stalked into one of the labs and slunk down into a seat in front of a computer.

Meanwhile, Horatio entered his office and trudged over to his seat before slowly sitting down. Slinging the first aid box he'd taken from the wall outside his office, he slowly lifted his left foot and rested it on a draw he'd pulled open. He swallowed dryly while he took a deep breath as he grasped the bottom of his trouser leg. Slowly pulling it up, he felt the sharp throb of the wound as the clot was pulled away from the wound with the trouser leg. He exhaled violently before he felt himself beginning to sweat while his hands lightly trembled. He pulled the trouser leg over his knee before he stopped and closed his eyes while he controlled his breathing in order to dim the pain. He quickly opened his eyes again when he felt blood gush out from the wound once again and quickly pulled the first aid kit towards him. Quickly opening the red box, he pulled out the bandages and pushed them against the bleeding wound. He held it in place for a few seconds before his curiousness got the better of him. Slowly peeling the bandage back, he leant over and closely inspected the 2 large gashes across his calf. _Is that muscle?_ Horatio asked himself with a deep frown. _I think I might actually have to go and get this stitched, I hadn't realised it was so deep. I can't run with this if I had to. I'll drive myself, they won't even know I'm gone. _Horatio told himself as he wrapped the bandage around his leg tightly before he stood and picked his keys up.

* * *

The Lieutenant returned back to the lab wearing a clean pair of trousers and generally feeling much better now his leg had been numbed considerably with local anaesthetic.

"H, we've been looking for you, everything okay?" Eric questioned as he strolled over to his boss in the hall.

"Have you found anything on Rebecca?" Horatio questioned him as he glanced back up to Eric with his sunglasses in his hands. _It doesn't look like they have._ Horatio thought to himself, judging by his colleagues disappointed expression and frustrated exhale.

"No, if I'd known better, I'd say she has disappeared off the face of the Earth, H," Eric shrugged and shook his head while Calleigh walked towards them.

"Well, that hasn't happened, so we're going to keep looking, we will find her," Horatio replied just before Calleigh stopped by him.

"Oh Horatio, I've been looking for you," Calleigh said as she looked at him with a tight, professional expression. He glanced to her and then gave her a nod as he turned to her, waiting to be presented with what she had to say. "You know that tracker on Rebecca's vehicle?" Calleigh questioned and Horatio nodded with an intense expression fleeting across his face. _She's got something?_ Horatio mused as he turned to the side and tilted his head, making steady eye contact with her. "It turns out that it is sending information back to Mr Wells's office and that it belongs to his company," Calleigh explained while Horatio looked to the floor and glowered with a nod. _I knew it would come back to him._ Horatio deliberated as he began to lightly tap at his belt.

"Thank you Calleigh, we need to find this man now," Horatio instructed before he sauntered away and to his office where he made another call to Stephen Wells, but didn't receive an answer. Sighing, he slumped slowly back into his chair before he leant over and rubbed the back of his leg. He could feel the local anaesthetic wearing off and felt the minor sting of each stitch in his leg. _24 stitches in total, I guess it could have been worse though._ He mused as he sat back and picked up his cell when it began to vibrate on the desk next to his sunglasses. He sat forwards and lifted the phone to his ear after answering the unknown number.

"Lieutenant Horatio Caine," he answered clearly as he stared at the plain blue background on the computer before him.

"Hi Lieutenant, it's Julie Wells," a female voice said quietly, he'd already detected the hint of worry in her voice.

"Julie, is everything okay?" Horatio questioned as he looked to his sunglasses and picked them up, ready to rush out if needed as he rose to his feet.

"Not really, I need to talk to you about Stephen; Abby has just told me something and I really think you need to hear it," she replied and Horatio lowered his eyebrows as he began to slowly walk out of his office.

"Of course, are you able to make it in?" Horatio questioned clearly, eager to discover the new information.

"Yeah, I'm on my way in now, I'll be there in about 5 minutes," she replied as he closed his office door behind him.

"Okay, drive safe," Horatio replied before he hung up and headed through the lab to check up on the progress his CSI's had made if any. _What's Abby said? Is it anything about Rebecca? _Horatio thought to himself.


	10. Chapter 10

Greeting Julie and Abby at the entrance of the building, he then led them through to a private interrogation room out of the eye of others.

"Please sit down," Horatio said cordially before he sat himself when his leg began to ache. _She looks worried, she's definitely very anxious._ Horatio thought just as the mother and daughter sat down opposite him. Watching Julie swallow as she took a deep breath and readied herself to speak, Horatio leant forwards on the glass table to give her his full attention.

"I… I called Stephen about the pills and he… erm, he just denied it and told me that I was being an idiot and when I informed him that Abby was home and safe, he hung up. I can't get hold of him now and his colleagues haven't seen him at all today," Julie said quietly and Horatio nodded. "I'm worried, Lieutenant, I'm worried about our safety now… after he–" she said before she completely broke down and covered her face. Witnessing the feeble woman weeping in front of him, Horatio gently pushed a box of tissues towards her as he pressed his lips together. _She's definitely scared, has she found out that Stephen is the one that took Abby? I should talk to her on her own, her daughter doesn't need to see her mother distraught._ Horatio thought to himself as he crooked his head to the side and clasped his hands tightly together on the table.

"Julie, I don't want you to worry, okay? Is it okay if we talk in private? I can have one of my CSI's stay with Abby for a few minutes," Horatio asked steadily with a soft tone. Looking up at the red-head, the mother nodded at him as she began to dry her eyes with the tissues Horatio had handed her. He slowly began to stand while he gave both mother and child a pleasant smile.

"Go with Lieutenant Caine Abs, I'll see you in a few minutes, we've just got to have an adult conversation," she said as she turned to Abby who nodded and then hugged her. Observing the loving embrace, Horatio could feel a mounting yearn for affection himself. He looked down at the glass table and placed each fingertip against the chilled glass. Feeling an unfamiliar sensation of unease, Horatio could feel himself becoming highly uncomfortable – something he never felt when observing others share such love and care in front of him.

"Don't cry Mommy," the little girl asked softly and then kissed her mother's cheek before she stepped back and looked up at Horatio. Julie then looked up at Horatio to see him staring down at the glass, lost in his own world wistfully.

"Lieutenant?" Julie asked, knitting her brow together. Rousing from his daze, Horatio stood up straight and offered Abby his hand as he strolled around the table. _Why did that bother me so much?_ Horatio quizzed himself as he'd not consciously become aware of his natural desire for passion. The little girl placed her hand in Horatio's and slowly wandered out with him.

"Calleigh, would you please sit with Abby for a few minutes while I speak with her mother?" Horatio questioned when he caught her in the hall with a file in her hand. Pausing, she turned to Horatio as she flicked her long blonde hair from draping down the sides of her face and nodded.

"Of course Horatio," she smiled radiantly before she slowly crouched down to meet the little girls green eyes with hers.

"Hi sweetie, my name is Calleigh Duquesne and I am a police officer like Horatio. Shall we go and get something to drink?" Calleigh asked tenderly while she slowly reached out and lightly placed her hand on the child's shoulder. The Lieutenant nodded with a reassuring smile when the girl looked up at him anxiously. Slowly, the child let go of Horatio's hand and took hold of Calleigh's before she looked back up at Horatio once again for more reassurance.

"I'll see you in a moment Abby, Calleigh is lovely, there's no need to be afraid," Horatio said smoothly as his colleague stood back up. The CSI gave her boss a nod and then glanced down to the little girl with an enthusiastic smile. The Lieutenant walked back to the room and entered gracefully before he slowly sat back down, smiling sympathetically.

"Abby told me what happened after I bribed her with crisps and a promise that the man who took her will never go near her again," Julie explained and Horatio nodded as he leant forwards. With his expression intensifying, he began to fiddle with his sunglasses. _I know exactly what his coming, I just don't know why._ Horatio thought to himself as he nodded at the woman, encouraging her to continue. "Stephen, Stephen took her from her bed this morning and made her promise not to tell anyone and to be very quiet. He told her that they were going for a trip to the zoo. She told me that she was really scared and couldn't understand why he'd leave her with scary alligators. He put my baby in an enclosure to be eaten by alligators! How messed up is that?!" she snivelled before she broke down completely once more while she shook her head in disbelief. _She's heartbroken… she's absolutely heartbroken that her husband did this. She's going to be even worse when she finds out that he's got the doctor too and when she finds out that he's been abusing her daughter. I know he has Rebecca. I need to get every ounce of information I can from Julie if I'm to find our missing doctor. _ Horatio mused as he pushed the tissues towards the hysterical woman once more. She nodded at him gratefully as she pulled more tissue from the box, which also allowed her to look into his compassionate eyes.

"Your husband did this?" Horatio questioned as he needed her to confirm and she nodded. Giving her a moment to compose herself, Horatio sat back and began to think to himself. _Why would he do this to his daughter? What reason does he have? Why would he kidnap Rebecca in the first place? Why would he be doing any of this? _The Lieutenant pondered as he began to run his thumb and index finger along the sleek metal frame of his sunglasses. _Love often brings the most brutal murders and heinous crimes, frequently involving innocent children, why would anyone want it?_ Horatio questioned himself, he could feel himself slipping deeper into his thoughts while he zoned himself out from reality._ I guess it's a primal desire to be loved, to receive affection… to have someone there for you when you need it._ Horatio thought as he looked down at his suit and exhaled steadily. The Lieutenant still hadn't realised that he wanted something more from his life, but he never considered himself as a human being, therefore didn't require the basic needs that others craved. Love was forbidden in his mind, love wasn't something he deserved, or so he often told himself.

"He isn't Abby's biological father, but she thinks he's her real Dad. I conceived her when in an abusive relationship with an ex, he'd raped me. I met Stephen a month after and he took care of me. He's brought Abby up like his own for 10 years. Why would he put my baby in danger like that?" she asked which quickly pulled Horatio from his immersed thoughts. Sitting forwards once more and with an empathetic appearance, he tilted his head to the right.

"Julie, I will find out for you and I will find Stephen and he will be punished," Horatio replied confidently. Determination and pure conviction to the case ebbed through his eyes and mouth, even in his posture and the atmosphere; she knew that the Lieutenant would do his best to find her deranged husband and put things right and bring justice to those who needed it. "Do you have a photo of him?" Horatio questioned and she nodded as she pulled her purse from her handbag and then handed Horatio a picture of a man with her daughter. Taking his time to scrutinise the picture thoroughly, he exhaled and pressed his lips together._ Paul Gunner._ Horatio said to himself as he slowly placed the picture down and pulled his cell from his pocket to ring Eric. Sensing the atmosphere tense with fury, Julie sat up straight to look at him properly and knitted her brow.

"Eric… Paul Gunner… we've got him. Put out a BOLO for a man matching his description in a grey Ford Mondeo Estate, registered to Stephen Wells. He's using a fake identity," Horatio ordered, glaring down at the glass with his heart beating hard and his mind racing. He glanced up at Julie and saw her looking very confused before he hung up once Eric replied. Silently, he handed her the photo back before he took hold of his sunglasses once more and sighed lightly. _I'm going to have to tell her, she needs to know._ Horatio understood while he focused on his sleek shades.

"Julie, there's no easy way to say this, but your husband isn't Stephen Wells, he's a man called Paul Gunner. He faked his death 12 years ago where he took over the identity of a recently deceased man called Stephen Wells, he's got a rap sheet consisting of theft and fraud, now kidnapping and possible murder. We've found his prints all over Doctor Henderson's house," Horatio said reluctantly with a warm expression still radiating out strong. Her eyes connected with his for a moment as silence filled the air around them. He held the eye contact and watched the information very slowly sink in. _I hope she doesn't take it too badly, she needs to stay strong for her daughter._ Horatio thought to himself while he pressed his lips together while he inclined his head to the right a little more.

"What? You mean he's lied to me for 10 years? He's kidnapped my daughter's doctor and has possibly committed murder?" She questioned and Horatio nodded, silently and regrettably. Watching the woman take a couple of gasps of air, he reached over and placed his hand delicately over hers. _She's in shock, denial perhaps? Or fury?_ Horatio asked himself while his eyes examined her closely. "I've let a criminal bring up my baby?" she questioned and Horatio nodded once more while he remained silent. Yanking her hand from under his, she covered her mouth while she violently exhaled and began to tremble through shock and abhorrence. "I've put my baby in harm's way for the last 10 years," she whispered as she looked back to the Lieutenant. Her expression became unreadable, but Horatio didn't have time to reply before she spoke again. "I'm a terrible mother! I'm an idiot, he's played me like an idiot!" she said as she began to hysterically sob. Covering her face with her hands, she shook her head and breathed heavily. She'd begun to become completely on done at the seams while Horatio slowly stood up and walked around the table.

"Julie, you're not an idiot and you're not a terrible mother. You did what you thought was best and it worked out for the first 10 years. He's a fraud, he's used to deceiving people, that's what they do," Horatio explained as he tried to soothe her by gently placing his hand on her back while she continued to cry into the tissue she had. He sighed inwardly, feeling his compassion heighten while she shook her head, disagreeing. _I must find Rebecca; every minute is becoming more serious._ Horatio believed while he continued to lightly move his hand over the blonde's back.

"Julie, I need you to focus right now, anything you give me could help us save another woman," Horatio said warmly to try and calm her down and focus on something else, something incredibly important.

"Abby mentioned that she saw her doctor briefly, but couldn't remember where. She said that Doctor Henderson looked upset and scared and that Stephen was in a rush," Julie said as she shook her head. _She's still alive, but maybe not for long now Stephen knows we're on his tail, we've got to move fast!_ Horatio told himself firmly. "I couldn't get anything else from her, she's been so quiet all day. Usually she's such a happy little girl, he's destroyed my baby," she cried as she looked back to the glass table and squeezed the tissue in her hands. Nodding at her, Horatio began to lose himself in his thoughts once more. _Time is of the essence, I will find her alive._ Horatio instructed himself as he stopped rubbing her back.

"Thank you Julie, at least we know that she's still alive, we have hope. Do you mind if I talk to Abby myself in private? If you're not comfortable with that then you're very welcome to sit in. I just want to ask her a few questions," Horatio asked gently and she nodded as she gawped up at him with sore eyes.

"Of course, if it saves that Doctor then by all means, if you think you've got more chance of getting something from her without my presence then you can talk to her," with her permission granted, Horatio quickly nodded with sheer grit emitting into the atmosphere. .

"Thank you, I will be right back," Horatio replied graciously as he quickly plucked his sunglasses from the table and swiftly exited the room. Hurrying, he made his way towards the room Abby and Calleigh were sat in. Both looked up at him just as he entered with a calm, hospitable smile with his sunglasses in his hands.

"Calleigh, may we have some privacy, please?" Horatio questioned while he began to make his way slowly over to Abby. Rising to her feet, his colleague smiled and nodded at him courteously before she departed. With his leg beginning to ache once more, Horatio sluggishly sat down next to Abby, but maintained his pleasant expression.

"Abby, can you tell me where you saw Doctor Henderson today?" Horatio asked caringly in a warm manner while he observed her colouring in the picture she'd drawn with the crayons Calleigh had supplied.

"I can't remember," she replied as she glanced up to Horatio with her wide green eyes that she'd inherited from her mother. The Lieutenant nodded at her before she began to colour again.

"That's okay, can you remember where your Daddy took you?" Horatio asked tenderly but she shook her head while she heavily exhaled. "You can talk to me, I'm not going to tell anyone else," Horatio assured her quietly as he lowered his head to gain some eye contact with her, but she just focussed on her drawing.

"I don't know," she replied as she looked back to him with an unhappy expression. _I'm frustrating her a little, but I must get this information, I know she knows the information I want._ Horatio told himself as he leant forwards on the table and looked to his sunglasses in his hands.

"Can you describe Doctor Henderson to me?" Horatio asked warmly, looking back to her but she just shook her head and pursed her lips.

"Did you see Doctor Henderson?" Horatio asked calmly and she shrugged as her colouring became more jagged and rough.

"Abby, you can talk to me. No-one is going to hurt you. I need to know if you saw her because Doctor Henderson is in danger at the moment and we need to find her so we can help her, like we helped you," Horatio said warmly as he tilted his head at her with his mellow expression.

"She needed a bandage but Daddy said she didn't," she replied and Horatio nodded, encouraging her to go on. _She's hurt._ Horatio believed as his grip on the shades in his hands tightened

"Well done, can you tell me if she was really hurt?" Horatio asked, needing to know every detail he could get his hands on.

"I don't know she looked upset. She was in a chair," Abby replied and Horatio nodded.

"Can you tell me what she was wearing?" Horatio questioned and she shook her head as she looked back down to her picture.

"She had red stuff on her face though, Daddy said it was paint and she was doing some decorating," she replied and Horatio nodded as he swallowed. _She's hurt and bleeding._ Horatio thought as he briefly closed his eyes and calmed his growing wrath against her father. He then looked to the picture she was drawing and saw that she had a red crayon in her hand. _Red crayon… red paint? _Horatio thought as he put 2 and 2 together.

"Abby, can you tell me what you've drawn? It's very good," Horatio asked enthusiastically with a cheerful smile and she looked back to the picture and held it up to show him properly.

"Daddy's work, he has lots of trucks," she said with a smile as she looked back to Horatio who nodded. He examined the drawing more and narrowed his eyes on the red part.

"What's that there?" Horatio asked energetically as he pointed to the red patch she'd just coloured in. _I bet it's 'red paint'._ The Lieutenant mused.

"That's paint, Daddy told me to wait while he cleaned it up. He said the painters are messy," she replied as she looked back down to the picture and placed it flat on the desk to continue with colouring. _There's red paint at his office._ Horatio thought as he pressed his lips together, feeling his temper swell.

"Were you at your Daddy's work today, Abby?" Horatio asked and she nodded but concentrated on her colouring once again. _She's at his work place… but I had officers check it out!_ Horatio said as he took a deep breath and felt a surge of fortitude to save the doctor.

"Well done sweetheart, you did well. Shall we go and find Mommy now?" Horatio questioned and she nodded blithely as she hopped off the chair and took her picture with her as she walked by Horatio's side. _She must still be there, she has to be._ Horatio pleaded himself, he needed to see the safe return of the good doctor, he knew he couldn't let it go. Entering the room Abby's mother was sat in, the Lieutenant smiled genially as he gave her a nod while Abby immediately left his side and rushed towards the woman.

"Julie, thank you very much. We've got the doctor's location," Horatio thanked her sincerely as she stood and hugged Abby.

"You have?" she asked and Horatio nodded before he placed his hands on his hips and clutched his shades in his left hand.

"Thank you very much, we're on the lookout for Stephen now, he'll be arrested when found and charged for a number of criminal acts, please do not worry," Horatio assured her and she nodded. His calm, protective aura that surrounded him had her feeling at ease.

"Thank you again," she said and Horatio nodded with a warm smile and then allowed them to leave before he walked out and into one lab where Calleigh, Eric, Ryan and Walter were situated.

"H, we've just got a call - Paul Gunner, AKA Stephen Wells has been sighted at the airport, but he's alone, he doesn't have Rebecca with him. We're on our way over there now," Ryan explained and Horatio nodded as he placed his hands upon his hips once more.

"Go with Walter. Eric, Calleigh, we've got a location on Rebecca," Horatio said before he turned and marched out of the lab and headed towards the elevator with a strong, driven stride. Eric and Calleigh looked at each other a second before they made a quick exit and rushed out after their boss while Ryan and Walter watched them enter the elevator.


	11. Chapter 11

Pulling to a grinding halt in the heavy Hummer, Horatio glanced back to see Eric and Calleigh also pulling up behind him on the roadside outside Paul Gunner's truck yard and office. _Rebecca must be here, I hope she's here!_ He thought with his heart thumping in his chest, punching the blood around his body swiftly. His adrenaline was already sky high and he'd not even stepped foot onto the property yet, but he could feel something, he sensed that Rebecca was there and needing his help. He looked to his left and pulled his shades off while turning the engine off and felt something again. _She's here, I know it._ Horatio felt an eerie sensation eating at him before he sprang out of the Hummer and slammed the door.

With Eric and Calleigh approaching him, he placed his hands on his hips and scowled penetratingly at the rundown estate. His eyes examined every detail they could while he began to tap at his belt, he was losing himself to is thoughts with every tap. _She could be in the office, she could be in a truck… we're going to have to search the place from head to toe, I will find her._ The Lieutenant thought before his eyes were drawn to the fence. _Barbed-wire? That looks a little malicious, is he trying to keep people out… or to keep them in?_ Horatio pondered while his colleagues studied the many trucks that varied in size and shape to the right and left of the dusty road that entered the property.

Beginning to stride down the rocky, make-shift road, Horatio could only feel his gut-instinct becoming stronger. _Something isn't right._ He glanced around again as they entered through the gates. The stench of rubber and gas was all that could be detected in the air, he looked to his left and saw that one of the trucks had a leak. Looking back ahead, he got a proper viewing of the dilapidated office building that sat in the middle of the site. _Well this looks a pleasant place to work. _The Lieutenant thought as he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sun beating down on them. Both Eric and Calleigh had placed their hands upon their weapons, both experienced an unnerving feeling that had them on their toes while they neared the office.

Arriving at the building, Horatio's radiant eyes scrutinised it but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Let's see if we can find any of Paul's colleagues," he droned with one hand on his hip and his precious sunglasses clasped in the other. With their boss approaching the door, Calleigh and Eric readied their guns for anything.

Once there was no response from knocking and announcing their arrival, the 3 of them entered the dreary office rapidly. They stood in the musty office for a few seconds, just looking around. _Nobody's home, what a surprise. _Horatio thought while he sauntered over to the main desk with his pistol in his right hand. He looked down to the files and paper sprawled about when he heard a creak of a floorboard coming from the back room. Raising his weapon to the closed door, the Lieutenant's heart rate had once again increased.

"Miami Dade police, anyone in?" Horatio called loudly as he glanced around to his colleagues to alert them of the potential threat. Eric began to approach the back door while Calleigh checked out the restroom. Holding his position, the Lieutenant had his colleague's back before he slowly began to move closer.

Both men could feel adrenaline surging through their bodies, both could feel a hint of trepidation chewing at the back of their heads. _Rebecca must still be alive, he had no reason to kill her. But that's just it; these delinquents don't need a reason._ Feeling the spike in adrenaline, both burst through the door and into the back room vigorously. They watched a raccoon quickly scarper through an open window with a packet of biscuits in its clutches but other than that, the room was empty with nothing more than a sofa and a small kitchenette.

"Someone left here in a hurry," Eric murmured as he gestured to the two full mugs on the side. Horatio slowly lowered his weapon just before Calleigh appeared with her gun back in her holster.

"There's a lot of bloody cloths and rags in the restroom," the CSI informed her boss who nodded and exhaled heavily. Turning around, Horatio raised a hand to his mouth as he gritted his teeth. Becoming exasperated, he listened closely to any sound he could perceive. He looked towards the back door and noticed that it was ajar, driving his curiousness and determination to find the doctor more. _She's here, I know it! But where and in what condition?_ He began to stalk towards the door with the gun in his right hand and shades in his left. His grip tightened on the weapon as he nudged the door open and peered out into the bright sunlight.

"Do you think he's taken Rebecca with him?" Eric questioned as he and Calleigh stood in the middle of the large room. They watched their boss silently shake his head while he observed the back of the truck yard thoroughly. _I can hear a truck's engine, I'm sure that's a truck._ The Lieutenant mused as he stepped out and down the steps slowly. Cautiously he strode deeper into the truck yard on high alert. _That's definitely a truck engine, but where's it coming from?_ He wondered as his strained eyes surveyed the surroundings.

"I'll take the front," Calleigh declared quietly as she and Eric exited the building soon after their boss. Nodding to show his colleague that he'd acknowledged her, the Lieutenant continued with his vigilant concentration on each truck before him. Quickly slipping his shades around his neck, he began to stalk covertly through the maze of trucks. Slowing his breathing down consciously, he managed to dedicate more attention to the quiet surroundings. Eric followed his boss's stride and then crept to the right when Horatio gestured to him. They began to efficiently move through the many trucks which were parked next to each other in rows. _Which truck's engine is running and why_? Horatio questioned himself as both he and Eric peered around watchfully.

Horatio knew he was closing in on the running engine as the sound was becoming louder. He could feel the burning sun shine down on his back while his heart continued to drum away in his chest.

Finally he saw a truck in front of him at the end of the row he was walking down and knew that was the truck that was running. He could just sense it, he had developed a feeling that Rebecca was in the back of it, perhaps not all in one piece. _She better not be harmed, she better be fine because if she's not… Paul Gunner will be meeting a very nasty end._ With his body releasing another torrent of adrenaline, he started to jog along the trucks to the one running. Peering up into the front cabin, he saw it was clear and so continued onto the back of the truck where he placed his ear against the back door but couldn't hear a thing. He felt the bite of the icy door nip his ear and cheek. _It's a refrigerated truck, he's tried to freeze her!_ With his heart fluttering he immediately reached up and pulled on the handle. Tugging roughly at the door, it eventually gave in to the force and opened.

A large wave of frosty air struck the Lieutenant instantly while his eyes widened when he saw a woman barely conscious tied to a chair with a rag in her mouth and shivering violently. He saw the terror in her eyes develop as they slowly moved to latch onto him as she began to shake her head, fearing he was another criminal because he'd aimed his gun at her for a second.

Quickly putting his gun in his holster, he felt a sinister atmosphere form within a matter of seconds. He looked to his right and saw a device in the corner of the truck. _I've triggered a bomb._ He realised just before he was rammed to the ground by a monumental air disturbance caused by an explosion erupting from the office. His thoughts silenced while his head throbbed after connecting harshly with the rocky floor. With enough sense remaining, he knew exactly what was to come so stayed low while the air pressure inverted negatively. The weakened Lieutenant finally felt the blistering heat blast over him but he didn't hear a thing as the eruption had rendered him temporarily deaf.

_Rebecca! She's alive, but not for long by the looks of it! I need to get her out of here… I need to get her to safety. _His thoughts began to fire up once more as he slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times.

Clenching his hands into fists in the gravel he exhaled a groan while he blankly looked under the truck. Confusion still lingered around the Lieutenant as he looked back to his right fist. He closed his eyes once more and exhaled pugnaciously, giving himself the boost he needed to force himself up from the filthy floor and onto his knees. Still stunned, he paused on all fours and looked at the gravel beneath him. Once again, his thoughts silenced completely.


	12. Chapter 12

He sat back on his legs and then felt the sharp ache of his calf, snapping him straight out of his stupefied state. Suddenly his thoughts burst with life once more as he glanced up to the truck that towered above him. _Rebecca!_ he shouted internally while he felt for his gun at his hip in case it was needed later. The thrashing of his heart commenced while he unsteadily scrambled to his feet.

"Rebecca!" Horatio hollered before he hauled himself up and leapt into the bitterly frosty truck. He quickly stumbled over to her while he breathed heavily and roughly. _Is she even alive anymore? Was that blast too much for her? _he wondered while he observed the frail woman, he could see the shape she was in, it didn't look good. She was covered in blood, no doubt it was her own and she could barely open one of her eyes. _She is alive! _he briefly celebrated and felt marginally relieved, but he knew that they were all still in grave danger, so there wasn't much time for the good feeling to last.

His hearing had started to return, but all he could hear was a loud, relentless ringing. He gently cupped each side of her face lightly and lifted her head to look into her distressed eyes while she began to hyperventilate. His delicate fingertips made contact with her skin, but his stomach churned into a black abyss when he felt her dried blood sticking to his hands. The sensation only drove his fury and desire to catch the felon while he lightly skimmed his thumbs over her cheeks. He could see that she was not in immediate danger from her injuries, but she needed looking at and quickly.

"Rebecca, I'm Lieutenant Horatio Caine and I'm going to get you out of here," he said loudly as he knelt in front of her and then pulled the dirty rag from her mouth as she looked at him, speechless. All she could do was breathe heavily as she watched him move his hands to her legs to untie her ankles. He'd noticed that even her sneakers were blood soaked while he detected the tang of blood in the air, something he'd only usually smell when the victim was long dead in a bloody pool.

"I've got you Rebecca, you're safe sweetheart," Horatio reassured her warmly as he swiftly moved his hands up to one of her wrists and started to untie it from the armrest of the chair. He watched her hands tremble violently before he studied the parts of her skin that weren't masked by blood. Her skin had a blue-grey tinge and was very pale where her body had withdrawn most blood from her limbs and pooled it towards her vital organs.

Listening to her rough and rapid breathing worsen, he looked up at her and saw that tears had begun to fall from her eyes just as he managed to release one of her arms and started to work on the other.

"I'm here sweetheart, don't worry," with his eyes jumping from hers to her wrist he tried his best to release her. Finally the rope loosened, allowing the Lieutenant to free the anxious woman.

He quickly briefly studied her torn tank-top, tight sweatpants and sneakers. _She looks like she was out on a jog, not taken from her bed,_ he thought while he delicately lifted her head again and placed both palms against her freezing and bloody cheeks to gaze calmingly into her petrified eyes.

"Rebecca, calm down for me sweetheart, you're safe, I've got you," Horatio reassured her while his eyes drifted down to her bloody nose before he looked at her left swollen black-eye again. She feebly tried to reach up for him, but it was clear she was too drained physically although she was clearly mentally alert.

Quickly pulling her quivering body from the chair, he hoisted her up and into his arms despite his own body aching from being thrown to the ground. His mind was blank, now he had her in his arms he didn't know what to do while she just stared at him. She didn't even weep verbally, tears just fell from her eyes; more than likely to do with sheer shock and gratitude that someone had come to save her. She just lie weakly in his arms unable to help in any way, no matter how much she wanted too. Horatio's own injury to his calf was the last thing on his mind now he had the doctor in his arms, he didn't even take notice of the pain it was giving him.

Having slowly clambered down the icy truck, he began to make his way through the network of HGV vehicles, most of which had caught alight and had begun to blaze away. _This whole place will be one giant inferno in a matter of minutes, these trucks could be full of gas too, _he thought as he stopped and looked around in an attempt to find safety and a clear path, but debris lay scattered all around them, most of it burning but some just smouldering, ready to explode into hot flames. _I need to get her out of here, safely, she's barely conscious, she's holding on with everything she's got, _he mused. Turning 360degrees on his feet, he suddenly remembered that his colleagues must have been caught in the explosion too.

"Eric!" Horatio shouted when he couldn't see Eric emerging from anywhere. The blaring ringing in his ears still persisted while the fluttering in his chest had strengthened, he felt the stitches in his calf pulling painfully as he stood there, hoping to see both team members appear. "Calleigh!" he shouted as he looked back around but didn't see anything but flames and debris. _Where are they? Are they safe?_ he panicked. He was unsure what to do; his desire to get Rebecca to safety was battling against his need to find his colleagues.

Suddenly, he found himself dashing desperately towards the direction he'd sent Eric in. "Eric!" he shouted before he stopped again when he came to a dead-end. Thoughts became muddled while he looked around, he could feel something slowly running down the side of his head and knew it was only one thing – blood, blood from when his head struck the rocky floor. He chose to ignore the feeling while he swallowed hard. Frantically, his eyes scrutinised every detail they could, but the dense smoke was starting to blind and burn his eyes. The choking smoke had started to irritate both the Lieutenant's and doctor's airways. Coughing to try and clear his throat, he then saw Rebecca gesture to a particular direction and looked down to her; he saw her lips moving while she tried to speak to him but he couldn't hear a thing she was saying.

Breathing heavily while his heart pumped furiously, he saw Eric struggling to get out from underneath a board with debris lying on top, pinning him to the floor. Horatio hurried over before he gently placed the doctor on her weak legs to aid his trapped colleague. Vocalising the strength he used to try and lift the board that had pinned Eric's lower legs to the ground, he realised that he alone wasn't strong enough.

"Get out of here, H!" Eric bellowed but his boss continued to try and free him. Clenching his jaw tightly, the Lieutenant tried to heave the board up once more but it was of no use until he felt it lighten. He looked up and saw that Rebecca was trying to help as she grasped the other end of the board and pulled with everything she had. Together they managed to lift the board a few inches off Eric while Horatio let go with one hand and grabbed Eric's collar to drag him out from under the debris, also momentarily choking him but it was necessary in his eyes. Once he was completely free, both the Lieutenant and doctor dropped the board just as Rebecca's legs gave out from under her. Having not eaten in days, combined with the cold temperature she'd been held captive in, she was running on nothing but adrenaline which was quickly eaten up by her trembling muscles.

Both men gasping for air looked at each other and exchanged a silent nod, but 1000 words of gratification and admiration were spoken between the two.

Quickly pulling Eric up by his shirt, Horatio then moved over to Rebecca and gently lifted her up onto her feet. She whimpered in pain as he supported her with his hands on each side of her rib-cage, under her arms so he quickly moved his hands into a better spot. He couldn't hold onto her arms as he needed to give her more support, so her torso was the only option.

"Can you walk?" Horatio questioned loudly as he supported her by holding her against him, but not too tightly. She nodded at him before she looked back to Eric who looked around frantically. Nodding at her once she looked back to him, he positioned his arm around her lower back and gripped her waist as he pulled her arm around the back of his neck for sturdy support.

"H, we've got to get out of here, this whole place will blow up!" Eric shouted and managed to hear himself faintly due to the shrill of the ringing in his ears also. The 3 of them stood still in the frozen yard, looking around trying to find a clearing.

"We can't get through anywhere!" Horatio yelled back as he turned to Eric just as something caught his eye. Calleigh had seemed to escape easily and had climbed onto the roof of one of the Hummers. He squinted at her for a few seconds before he realised she was pointing towards the back of the burning site, indicating to them to go back as there was no way through to get to the front.

"We need to get back, Eric," Horatio hollered as he began to make his way towards the back of the site with Rebecca beside him. Eric rushed with them and took a gentle hold of Rebecca's free arm to give her more support as he could see her beginning to drag her feet a lot more. Horatio noticed that she'd put a lot more weight on him as her head slumped to the side and against his shoulder.

"You can do this sweetheart, we've got you," Horatio assured her as he tightened his grip around her waist. "Rebecca, come on sweetheart," he called loudly and then felt her lift her head a little more as she took more of her weight. Suddenly, Horatio pulled to a sharp halt which caused Eric to stop also.

"H?" the CSI asked as he looked over to Horatio while Rebecca took the pause as a break and rested her head back against Horatio's shoulder, completely unaware of the lurking danger. Eric looked down to where Horatio's eyes were resting and saw the puddle of gas flowing through a groove in the gravel towards a flame. Each man's heart stopped with a thud in their chests as they realised the gas was leaking from a large container and knew the blast would be colossal. With their hearts beating furiously once more they turned and dashed away before the gas went up in flames.

As the fire shot along the gas stream, it entered the large gas container causing exactly what the men had anticipated, another large explosion.

Horatio, Eric and Rebecca all hunkered down on the floor in a huddle. The Lieutenant cloaked the doctor with his body to protect her as much as he could from the harsh conditions, but he could see the sheer horror beginning to glisten in her eyes. He felt the air cool after the fire had become contained to just the truck after the initial spark.

"Rebecca, focus on me, we're going to get you out of here, I promise," Horatio assured her confidently. "Slow your breathing down sweetheart, I will get you out of here," Horatio vowed boldly and made soothing eye contact with her. Looking into his serene eyes that were inches from hers, she managed to slow her breathing down as she nodded at him. "Well done," he praised as she took hold of his biceps and continued to look at his remarkably calm expression. He was anything but relaxed inside, while his heart raced as fast as his mind.

Just as Eric rose to his feet, the Lieutenant pulled the woman up before he began to tug her along while he followed Eric who'd seen a path to the back of the yard. The doctor clearly had a lot more consciousness now, but that began to have a disastrous effect. Now she was more receptive of the fiery surroundings, she began to look around with a haunted expression, slowing Horatio down unintentionally while her anxiety rose to tremendous levels.

"I've got you sweetheart," Horatio shouted as he stopped and gave her more support by swathing her with his right arm.

Eric began to make headway towards the fence at the back of the burning site while Horatio and Rebecca were a little behind due to the Lieutenant's calf wound and Rebecca's general weakness. Glancing back just as he neared the fence, Eric witnessed another eruption ignite in a truck meters from his boss and the fearful woman. His jaw slacked as he feared for their lives while thick flames shielded his view of them.

Horatio had rapidly spun around and leapt on Rebecca, pushing her to the floor forcefully. She yelped in a cry of pain, but Horatio was too busy worrying about the flames that had nearly killed the both of them. Protecting her as best he could with his body, he felt the rapid movement of her chest against his once she'd started to hyperventilate again. He tried his best to keep his weight off her but to protect her he had to be in contact with her.

"Rebecca, I will get you out of here, I've promised you and I keep my promises," Horatio assured her again while he softened his expression in an effort to calm her. He could still feel the heat scorching his back so he knew that it wasn't safe to move just yet. "Sweetheart, look at me," he asked delicately as he looked into her frantic eyes and watched them settle on his. "I _will_ get you out of here," he reiterated with pure conviction seeping through each word. She completely believed him which allowed her to calm herself somewhat.

She could feel his gentle warmth transfer from his body into hers, causing her to relax more. He continued to look into her eyes, he knew it was reassuring her, he knew his confidence had a comforting effect.

"H!" Eric yelled as he got as close as he could but a stream of fire prevented him from getting close to them. He couldn't see them clearly at all which had him panicking desperately. "H! Can you hear me?" Eric shouted as he looked over the flames and saw them on the floor, but to him it didn't look like they were moving, causing a dark, bottomless pit to materialise in his stomach. _They're dead! They're dead!_ Eric panicked as he raised both hands to his head while he stared at the both of them.

Finally, he saw movement and tried to get closer to them but the fire singed his clothes and skin so he took another step back. "H!" he shouted once more before he saw his boss slowly lifting himself off Rebecca.

Having deemed it safe to move, once he was off the doctor, he gently pulled her back up to her feet once he was on his. He pulled her close and turned to look around but they were encircled by dense flames entirely with no means of escape. _We're trapped, what are we going to go? How am I going to get her out of here? We're really trapped, _Horatio realised as he looked back to Rebecca and saw fire in her eyes, quite literally as the bright flames bounced off them.


	13. Chapter 13

Turning 360degrees on his feet again, the Lieutenant desperately looked for an escape route while Rebecca just stared at the mass of flames that imprisoned both her and her saviour. _Think Horatio! _he told himself as he raised one hand to his head and looked towards Eric who had started to hunt hastily for anything that could be used to reduce the blaze. _We'll have to go through the fire, the least dense part of the flames is by Eric, we could try and put that part of the fire out which would allow us to escape,_ he thought as he eyed the line of burning gas and debris parting him from his colleague. _Yeah, it's the only way,_ he told himself just as he pulled his jacket off and rushed towards the flames.

Beating at them with the expensive jacket, he noticed it had begun to work slightly, so continued to fight with the fire, despite the blistering heat biting at his skin. Any sweat his body produced was rapidly vaporised by the intense temperature radiating from the fierce flames. With his heart drumming wildly in his chest, the Lieutenant glanced up at his colleague who'd started to help him pound the sea of flames out. Both men frantically thumped out the fire to the best of their ability while Rebecca had completely frozen on the spot a few meters from Horatio, just gazing at the inferno with her head inclined to the left; she'd become trapped in a trance-like state. Her thoughts were mute, her eyes glazed while her body continued to quiver vigorously.

"Rebecca," Horatio called loudly to get her attention as he and the CSI managed to keep the scorching fire at bay enough to get her through, but she didn't respond, she didn't even look back. The doctor heard nothing but the roar of the blaze around her; she saw nothing but the dark underworld of fire and the demise of her very existence.

"Rebecca, come on sweetheart," Horatio called loudly when she didn't appear at his side when he'd first called for her. With his heart fluttering fast, he glanced back to her and realised she'd lost herself to the world of day-dream which calmed his initial fear of seeing her collapsed. _She's the Rebecca Henderson from that large house fire, isn't she?_ he mused while he studied her trembling figure and vacant stare. _I have to get her away, now,_ he told himself as he glanced back to the CSI, then felt a flame strike his hand, singeing the fine hairs from his nearly barbequed skin.

"Carry on, Eric!" the Lieutenant commanded his colleague as he stepped away and stopped beating the fire out to dash over to the traumatised doctor. The CSI continued to drown out the flames to the point of exhausting his body while Horatio cloaked the doctor in his jacket before he wrapped one arm around her waist.

"Come on sweetheart, you're okay," he assured her warmly as he gently pulled her back over to the fire but she quickly pulled out of his grip as she looked at it wide eyed. Hysterically hyperventilating, she looked from the blaze to the red-head. The Lieutenant then saw a glimpse of her distress as he looked into her eyes, he could understand her torment but he also needed to get her out of danger. _How else can I get her out of here? There is no way!_ he thought as he took another quick glance around, he just hoped to find some other way out, but there wasn't.

"It's the only way out, Rebecca, I promise you that you'll be fine," Horatio vowed as he looked back to her with a confident expression but she just shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. He watched her eyes dart around the surroundings before he reached out towards her with an open hand. _I can't approach her, she'll run; she's scared, she has to come to me,_ he thought as he looked at her encouragingly.

"H! I can't hold this much longer!" Eric shouted while he continued to thump the searing flames down. Acknowledging his colleagues warning, the Lieutenant knew he had to get both himself and the doctor through the gap soon.

"I'll be with you all the way, come on sweetheart," Horatio urged smoothly before he watched her swallow and press her lips together in an effort to calm her breathing down. "Trust me, Rebecca," he pleaded just as her eyes connected with his. He watched her stare into his eyes, judging whether he was to be trusted and just hoped that she did. _If she doesn't take my hand I will grab her and drag her out if I have to, _he mused as he inclined his head to the right and looked at her tenderly.

Slowly reaching out, she placed an unnaturally cold hand in his as Horatio nodded at her reassuringly and comfortingly. Once close enough to him, Horatio pulled his jacket over her head to protect her as best he could and tightly wrapped one arm around her slender torso. _Here goes,_ he told himself before he pulled her through the flames swiftly while Eric constantly swatted the ground with his jacket. Before the doctor had realised, she was the other side of the inferno just standing, frozen once more with her eyes closed. She'd put all her trust into Horatio and it had paid off for the both of them. Taking a quick moment to quickly check himself over, the Lieutenant then checked Rebecca over to make sure that none of her clothes had caught alight.

"Rebecca, you're safe now, well done sweetheart, I told you it would be fine," Horatio said soothingly as he gently moved his jacket to uncover her head and put it around her shoulders properly. She slowly opened her eyes as he took hold of her upper arms and looked at her warmly. His heart rate had begun to calm considerably now they were out of immediate danger, but they still needed to get out of the yard before more explosions erupted.

Taking one of the doctor's arms each, Horatio and Eric hurried over to the tall fence as their eyes scrutinised it thoroughly to find a safe way over or under.

"Over there!" Eric shouted when he saw a gap under the fence. Horatio looked to were his colleague was pointing and then nodded. The CSI pulled Rebecca along as he dashed alongside the wired fence with Horatio following, but a little slower. _This damn leg wound, it must be opening again,_ he griped to himself as he stopped just behind Rebecca and looked down to the small gap below the fence. _She'll get through there, but we won't. That's good enough for me at the moment,_ he mused as he slowly bent down and grasped the bottom of the fence. His only focus was to get her to safety first, he and Eric would be able to think of something else when the time came to it, or so he hoped anyway.

"You go first, Rebecca," Horatio ordered as he began to pull the fence up to create a bigger gap. The doctor dropped to her knees and surveyed the small hole.

"I can't get under there!" she replied as she shook her head and looked up at the red-head.

"Yes you can," he encouraged before he looked up to his colleague for help with the fence. She pressed her lips together just as Eric aided his boss and pulled the fence up further. The doctor took a deep breath and tried to get lower to the ground, but she couldn't see herself getting through the gap at all. She quickly took the large jacket she had on around her and handed it back to the Lieutenant.

"On your back, Rebecca… take your time, don't panic and don't rush," Horatio said calmly while he gave her a gentle expression when her eyes connected with this again. She slowly turned and laid on her back before she looked up at the red-head again, needing a little more reassurance. Her eyes fixed on his metallic blue, gentle eyes just as he let go to the fence with one hand and placed his hand under her head to aid her in any way he could, he also didn't want her to catch her head on one of the jagged rocks that lay just below the soil.

"Take it slowly, you're doing well," he said calmly which gave her the confidence boost that she needed. As she began to make progress, Horatio glanced back when he heard a couple more explosions and knew that they had to get out quickly. _Eric won't get under there, I certainly won't. We'll have to go over and risk getting cut by the barbed wire,_ he thought to himself as he looked back up to the top of the fence and stared at the razor sharp wire that would certainly cut their skin open as easily as a knife.

Staring up at the fence, he Lieutenant seemed calm on the outside, but inside an internal war raged that fought for control. Pain, partial deafness and frustration threatened to pull him from his calm nature and throw him into a pool of panic and desperation to get himself, Rebecca and Eric to safety regardless of the consequences. The sting exuding from his calf began to travel through his body, caused his jaw to tense while he looked back down to the doctor shuffling under the fence. He removed his hand from under her head once it was the other side of the fence, but he could feel his hands trembling. Was he going into shock? Was he letting his ever growing panic get the better of him? He didn't know, all he knew was that they needed to get out.

"I can't go any more," the doctor panicked as she began to fidget excessively causing Horatio to look back down to her and miraculously calmed himself once more. He saw that the fence had caught hold of her already ripped tank-top and began to rip it more the more she struggled.

"Don't panic Rebecca, I'm just freeing your top from the fence," Horatio said as he gently pulled her top from the metal wire. He took no notice of the bright orange sports bra beneath the black tank-top, even though the neck of the tank-top had mostly ripped and exposed the bright item of clothing. However, Eric couldn't help but look at the blood stained bright bra every so often while she slipped under completely and then hauled herself up on the other side. Despite being in a terrifying situation, one man's desires had heightened unprofessionally, but the CSI managed to keep himself under control for he knew it was the adrenaline, he knew it was because he feared for his life that the thought of one more woman in his arms had him craving something he couldn't have.

Finally, Horatio felt a sense of relief now that the doctor was the other side of the fence and could run from danger if needed. _Now for us,_ he thought as he looked from the doctor to the barrier before him. His concern was now drawn to his colleague as well as himself, he knew he needed to get out fast.

"H, we won't get under there," Eric said to his boss who nodded and looked up to the top of the fence. _We will be cut to shreds if we go over, that could mean infection and a large amount of blood loss,_ Horatio thought while he slowly rose to his feet with pain shooting up his leg. He silently groaned as he took hold of the fence with one hand for support as he eased his weight onto his healthy leg. _What should we do?_ he asked himself as he looked up at the menacing barbs.


	14. Chapter 14

"Fold your jackets and put them over the top of the fence, they'll be thick enough to protect you from the barbs," Rebecca suggested, causing both men to look at her from observing the vicious looking wire. _That's a good idea,_ the Lieutenant thought to himself as he nodded and then began to fold his jacket. Eric quickly copied and then slung his jacket over the top after Horatio had placed his on the fence. _We still need to be careful,_ he thought as he glanced back when another eruption exploded.

"Rebecca, move away from the fence," the red-head asked as he looked back to her and felt the temperature of the air around him rise critically as trucks closer to them caught alight.

Gesturing towards his colleague, Horatio encouraged him to go over first. Springing over the fence, the CSI had made it look exceedingly easy to the Lieutenant and Doctor. _It can't be that difficult; Eric was fine climbing over,_ little did the Lieutenant know just how problematic climbing the fence would be. Once his colleague was over the other side, the red-head stepped up and began to climb. Clinging onto the wire fence as it became unbalanced he froze when he felt a surge of pain shoot up his leg. _Maybe it's not so easy, _he realised as he took a deep breath and then gritted his teeth.

"The fence will wobble if you just stay there H, you need to get over quick," his colleague informed as he took hold of the wire to try and steady it just as Rebecca had done the same. With an inaudible groan escaping his throat, Horatio pulled himself up further and took hold of the top of the fence over the jackets. He then realised that it was going to be a challenge just to get his injured leg over the fence.

"Careful, H," the CSI warned as his boss glanced back towards the front of the yard once he reached the top. Calleigh was still standing on the roof, keeping a watchful eye over everything going on while the fire trucks and emergency services began to arrive. _We just need to find a way round to the main road now, _the Lieutenant thought to himself as he looked back down to his colleague and the Doctor.

Slowly clambering down the other side of the fence, he pulled both his jacket and the CSI's down too. Once his feet were back on safe, grassy land, he shook his jacket out before he draped it over the shivering Doctor. A veil of panic and tension was lifted immediately upon a few steps away from the burning truck yard, he could feel his heart finally receiving the rest it needed.

"Good thinking," the Lieutenant praised her while he put his arm around her waist and walked her away from the blazing inferno and further into the farmland they'd jumped into. Once Horatio had deemed it a safe distance he halted with Rebecca and turned to her to help her get the jacket on properly.

"Are you hurt anywhere, Sweetheart?" he asked warmly as he lowered his head to look into her eyes before she shook her head, silently and made brief eye contact with him. She quickly sent her eyes down towards the floor as she swallowed and turned her head away from him slightly. Moving close towards the trembling Doctor, Eric lightly placed his hand on her upper back before he studied the furnace they'd narrowly escaped. _Is she really okay? _Horatio wondered as he shifted his weight on to his uninjured leg again.

Delicately rubbing her upper arms in an effort to warm her in the blistering heat, Horatio tilted his head to the side to try and get a better look at her bloody face, but also to gain eye contact as he needed to see that she was in face okay. She looked away a little more as she raised a hand to her face before she crossed her arms over her chest and pulled the jacket tightly around her.

"Are you sure?" he questioned and she nodded silently once more as she stared down at the long, dead grass. He took a step back to give her more personal space when he gathered that she didn't want eye contact or close contact, who could blame her?

"Thank you," she whispered as she turned her head back in his direction but continued to look down at the ground while she consciously began to calm her rapid breathing down. It was clear that she was in shock, perhaps even disbelief that she was finally out of the horrific situation.

Lifting her head fully, she peeked back towards the blaze and swallowed hard before she looked back to the man who'd saved her. He finally got the eye contact he wanted when her light blue eyes fixed on his; looking into a victims eyes gave him the closest idea to how they were really feeling, despite what they told him. Eyes never lie, he knew that better than anyone which is why he never maintained eye contact with anyone around him for long; he was afraid of them seeing what he tried so hard to keep hidden. He knew one good look into his eyes could potentially release everything he'd worked so hard to keep away from his colleagues, or even those who innocently passed by. His pain, his suffering, but most of all, everything he's lost would be known.

He knitted his brow together when he couldn't read her, he had no idea what she was feeling, or thinking which told him that she wasn't 100% okay otherwise she wouldn't block him out so well if she were.

"Do you know anything about Abby Wells? She's a little girl, aged 10, her father is the man that attacked me at my home. I saw him here today with her, this morning… she was just in her pajamas, she looked scared. He's abusive, I'd rumbled him and he wanted to silence me, I'm worried about her but social services aren't doing anything about it, please help her," she explained quickly, but she'd tried to slow her speech down so he could understand her fully. Still panicking, her eyes didn't remain on one fixed point for more than 3 seconds, she'd look to the Lieutenant, then to Eric and to the blazing trucks, but mostly at the ground and the Lieutenant's grubby shirt. _After all she's been through, she's still worried about Abby over herself? Then again, I would probably be thinking the same,_ he admitted to himself as he studied her anxious eyes dash around.

"Abby is fine, she's home and safe with her mother now. Her father will be receiving a very long prison sentence," he hushed her worries while he inclined his head to the right while she nodded at him and exhaled a sigh of relief. _She genuinely cares a lot about her patients, so much so that she became a victim because she fought to free a young girl,_ he mused as he looked at her tenderly and couldn't help himself from sympathising with her.

"Thank you," she gratefully nodded at him and allowed him a moments eye contact before she looked away again.

All 3 of them heard a colossal explosion and then looked back to the inferno to see everything alight. _We definitely got out of there in time, we would not have survived that,_ he thought as he stared at the bright flames trying to break out from the yard. Thick black smoke began to rise from where the tyres had begun to burn, throwing toxic fumes into the air.

"Come on, let's get away from here," the Lieutenant muttered as he looked back to Rebecca and his colleague before they began to slowly stroll away to their left, hoping to find a way back to the main road.

_That was a close one, the closest I've had for ages for definite, _he thought as silence filled the surrounding atmosphere while they all reflected on the recent events. _At least it's good to finally do something that felt so worthwhile, we managed to save Abby and Rebecca, all we've got to do now is put Paul behind bars for the rest of his life… identity fraud, child abuse, two accounts of kidnap and attempted murder… that should see him in prison until he dies. I'm sure there's plenty of other actions he could be charged with too,_ he believed while the pain in his calf began to alleviate, perhaps because he wasn't asking too much of the injured limb any longer.

_When I get my hands on Paul, he's going to regret even being born,_ Horatio thought sinisterly as he clenched both hands by his sides after slipping his shades on to dim the bright sunlight. He then looked towards the Doctor as she walked on his left a meter or two away from him. _Just how badly hurt is she? I've not had time to properly talk to her, she looks like she's in quite a bit of discomfort,_ he thought while he subtly observed the Doctor walk with her arms wrapped around herself and looking down to the long grass.

His whole body began to ache now his adrenaline finally begun to wear off, now he had some time to finally breathe he felt the full extent of his actions but didn't regret them one bit. _I think I may have pulled out the stitches, I'll check later, I'm sure it's fine,_ he mused as he looked down to the long, dry grass himself and placed a hand on his hip. He could feel himself perspiring a great deal while they walked through the farmland with no shade and nothing to protect them from the intense sunlight. Quickly wiping his brow with his forearm he exhaled and looked over to his colleague who was suffering just as much from the sizzling weather.

The Lieutenant could feel a limp developing once more as his body began to try and subconsciously lessen the pain in his left calf, but his pride and stubbornness made his body correct the limp to walk normally. Pushing through the pain so he didn't alert either his colleague or the Doctor of his injury, he glanced over to them to see whether either of them had picked up on the limp, but both their eyes were glued to the ground.

His eyes remained on Rebecca just as she slowed her pace and began to breathe a little more heavily, he stepped closer to her and placed his hand delicately on her back. He knitted his brow as she glanced back to him when she felt his hand come into contact with her body. Noticing his concern she quickly looked away and back down to the ground; her pride was almost as big as the Lieutenant's.

"Are you okay, Rebecca?" he asked smoothly as he lowered his head to get a glimpse of the side of her face. _She's not okay at all, is the problem physical or mental?_ he asked himself as he moved closer and moved his hand up to her shoulder. His concern grew to great heights when he felt her tense considerably. Moving his hand back to her back, in case she had a painful shoulder, she remained tense as she nodded silently at him again but he knew something was wrong. _Why doesn't she just talk to me and tell me what the problem is? It's not hard,_ he pondered but he'd neglected to relate her reluctance to talk to himself; he was exactly the same.

"You're not okay, sit down Sweetheart," Horatio commanded softly as he moved both of his hands to her right arm and gently stopped her from walking. _I think I could do with resting my leg too,_ he thought as she swallowed and she turned back to him but didn't look him in the eye, she instead looked down to the blood specks on his dusty blue shirt.

"Let's sit down," he encouraged her delicately and then slowly sat with her while Eric remained standing for a moment as he studied his boss and the Doctor, both of whom looked to be in a little discomfort.

The Lieutenant slowly moved closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders before he began to rub her upper arms again to aid warming her up as she was still shivering. Eric slowly sat a meter away from them and glanced to his boss, he wasn't sure what else he could do to help Rebecca now she was safely away from the fire. _I can't see any obvious injuries apart from those to her face, but she is fully clothed, I'll just have to get her looked at. Could she be suffering with hypothermia?_ he asked himself as he felt her quivering violently under his hands.

"Where are you hurting?" Horatio asked quietly as he leant close and lowered his head to gain some eye contact with her. _She's probably someone who won't openly admit to being hurt, maybe she'll tell me if I ask quietly?_ he pondered as she glanced to him and blinked a few times, allowing him to get a better look at her face. _She's been beaten worse than I had thought… Paul will be getting something twice as bad,_ he mused menacingly as his lips tightened together. His eyes scrutinised her cut lip, her swollen nose and black, swollen eye and he knew that it must hurt but there wasn't anything he could do at that moment in time except get her the medical help she needed.

"I'm good, I've just not eaten in days," Rebecca explained as she looked weakly to the ground and partially hid her face from him. _She must be starving, I doubt he gave her any food, _he thought to himself as he shook his head lightly in disgust. _I don't have anything I can give her, I might have a cereal bar in my Hummer, but I doubt that,_ he mused as he tried to remember if he had anything back in the vehicle.

"Here, it's not much but it's something," Eric said as he moved a little closer and offered her a snack bar that he pulled from his pocket. She looked at it for a moment and then slowly took it from him with a grateful expression, but she knew that there was probably an ingredient she couldn't eat in the snack. However, she was so hungry she wasn't sure whether she'd rather starve or eat something that could kill her.


	15. Chapter 15

Horatio looked towards his colleague and nodded with a small smile of approval, but he then looked back to Rebecca who'd turned the wrapper over to read it. _She has food allergies, I hope that doesn't have nuts in,_ he remembered as he watched her eyes scan the packet. The Lieutenant noticed a sharp drop in her demeanour while she read. Looking back up to Eric with a very grateful, but disappointed expression, she held the snack back out towards him.

"I'm really sorry, but I can't eat that. Thank you very much though," she explained while he slowly took it from her looking both guilty and apologetic. Once he'd taken it from her she gave him a small half-smile to show him that the kind gesture was very much appreciated. She glanced back to the red-head before she looked back down to the grass and pressed her lips into a line. _She's starving and food has just been dangled right in front of her… that must have been near torture, I didn't realise that had nuts in, _the empathic Lieutenant thought while he looked from the Doctor to his colleague who was reading the packet himself. _I'm sure someone will have something we can give her when we get her back to safety,_ he mused while he wiped the developing sweat from his brow once more.

"Sorry, I didn't realise it had nuts in," Eric apologised for literally putting food under her nose that she couldn't eat. Beginning to feel extremely cruel for doing such a thing without thinking, he put the snack bar away and observed the shivering woman while she lifted her head once more to look at him. Both the CSI and his boss could hear her stomach beginning to beg for food but couldn't do anything about it. _It must be because she saw the food, her body thought it was going to get the food, she's probably feeling worse now,_ the red-head imagined while he continued to gently rub her upper arms as she rubbed her hands together.

"You… you know about my allergy?" the Doctor asked quietly as she knitted her brow together and looked from Eric to Horatio shyly as they nodded at her. Both gave her a confident, reassuring expression as Horatio moved a little closer to her as he could see just how weak she was. He wanted her to use him to lean against so she didn't have to use so much effort or energy to sit under her own weight, but she quickly shuffled away a little before she looked timidly up at him. _She needs space, who can blame her? I should allow her to have her space, I should have thought about that, _the Lieutenant thought to himself as he stayed put while she swallowed and blinked at him, almost afraid. Instead, he just tried to warm her up as he tenderly looked at her and allowed her to have the space she wanted.

"We searched your house when you were reported missing and found your medication," Horatio explained while she continued to look at him, it was clear she was trying to determine if he was a threat to her, so he kept his voice suave and his facial expression smooth. Nodding at him, she took a couple of deep breaths and looked back down to the ground. _I need to get her back, she needs medical attention,_ he thought while he watched her quiver nonstop.

"Do you think you can walk with our help?" Horatio questioned and she looked back to him with another silent nod. "Okay, we'll go slowly," he stopped rubbing her arms and began to slowly rise to his feet but stopped half way when he felt the pull of his calf send a surge of pain up his entire leg. He managed to silence the groan that wanted to escape his throat as he clenched his jaw before he reached down and held his hands out towards Rebecca. Neither the Doctor nor the CSI were any the wiser of the pain the Lieutenant was in. Gratefully accepting the help of the red-head she took his hands and slowly stood herself before she clung onto his arm for support when she felt her head spin a little, more than likely due to the lack of food.

He looked down to her as she took a few more deep breaths and held onto him while he subtly shifted his weight onto his right leg once more to ease the pain. "I'll give you a moment," he said warmly, but he was really giving himself a moment to compose himself and push the pain away with a heavy exhale. He concentrated on expelling the pain so much that he'd not even realised that she'd taken a load of her weight off him while she felt better in herself. He felt the pain lessen considerably when he relaxed his leg and realised it was only painful when his muscle was tense, which was understandable considering the muscle was shredded. _I should have taken those painkillers,_ he realised as he took a deep breath and then fully composed himself.

Looking back to the doctor, he could see that she'd already sorted herself out while she looked questionably at him as she tilted her head. He knew exactly what she was thinking; he knew she'd noticed that he was in pain.

"I'm good," she mumbled as she quickly let go of the Lieutenant as it was becoming clear to her that he was injured too, despite how much he tried to hide it. But it was also obvious to him that she wasn't strong enough to walk on her own, so his pride began to eat at him once more, he wasn't going to be seen as a man who couldn't help a woman in need out. Glancing to Eric, he realised his colleague hadn't noticed that Rebecca needed the support, so he stepped closer to the weak Doctor and put his arm around her waist to support her. She looked back to him and opened her mouth to speak but he'd got there first as he knew exactly what she was going to say, but he didn't want her to alert his colleague that he was struggling too.

"Put your arm around my neck," he commanded softly as he slowly eased his weight onto his left leg and felt the pain beginning to alleviate a little more.

"But you're hurt," she whispered as she'd gathered that he didn't want his colleague to notice. With his eyes fixing on hers, he realised that she was becoming concerned about him.

"I'm not, just put your arm around my neck," he replied assuredly as he placed his other hand on her waist too, just until he was sure she was fully supported when she did as he'd asked. She blinked at him a few times, trying to work out if he was lying to her or not, but she simply couldn't tell. She looked down to the ground as she put her arm around the back of his neck; she wasn't going to argue further with him. The CSI peered back to them when he felt the tension between the Lieutenant and the Doctor spike briefly, but took no notice as things seemed cool between them as they started to trudge through the farmland once more. Eric took a light hold of Rebecca's other arm when he realised that Horatio was helping her because she needed it, not just because he was being his usual self and trying to help anyone he thought needed it, when they sometimes didn't.

"Just tell us if you need a rest, okay?" Horatio asked causing her to look back to him and look him in the eye. He looked back into her blue eyes confidently and saw her worry beginning to lessen as she nodded at him. His natural ability to reassure those around him just with his eyes continued on strong, he could see that her concern was subsiding so felt extremely relieved.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she looked back down to the dead grass, she'd begun to feel bad about arguing with the red-head. She'd also started to think that the past couple of days had inhibited her usual knack for reading other people like a book, when in actual fact, she was spot on with thinking he was in pain himself. He knitted his brow as he turned his head to look at the side of her bloody face. _What is she apologising for? She's not done anything wrong, was I too strong when I asked her to put her arm around my neck?_ he thought while his tender eyes studied the blood matted into her hair.

"You shouldn't be sorry about anything, Rebecca, I'm sorry if I was forceful," he apologised quietly as he lowered his head to try and gain a little bit of eye contact, but she didn't give him any. She just swallowed as she pressed her lips together and nodded silently down at the floor.

Looking back to where they were walking, Horatio steadily exhaled himself, while Eric looked at the both of them with a slight frown. He could see that they were both in deep thought so stayed silent.

Peering back to her right, the Doctor looked back up to the Lieutenant while he remained in his thought bubble, unaware she'd looked at him. "I'm sorry, what was your name? I didn't really catch it back then," she said kindly as she tilted her head, finally allowing her thoughts to untangle from the mess they'd previously been in. Horatio quickly realised she was talking to him and looked back to her, to see her eyes observing him once more. With his eyes studying her too, he realised she'd managed to calm herself considerably.

"I'm Lieutenant Horatio Caine," he replied gracefully with a comforting smile. Nodding at him with a delicate smile, she then looked to her left for the CSI's answer. _She's finally calming down enough to talk, that's a very good sign… she's also probably returning to her normal behaviour now that she's out of the way of danger, she seems like she's generally a reserved woman, but also one for very appropriate behaviour,_ the Lieutenant concluded as he'd witnessed the change in the way she held herself, something just seemed formal about her.

"CSI Eric Delko," he answered her as he managed to examine her busted and bloody face closely for the first time while his boss looked back to where they were strolling along.

"Thank you both so much, I owe you my life," she paused momentarily while she looked back to Horatio who'd set his gaze back upon her. "I didn't think I'd get out of there alive… I'm Doctor Rebecca Henderson, but you both probably already know that… you both probably know a lot more about me than I do about you," she greeted politely while she looked forwards and into the distance. The sleek tone to her voice told them that she was a very pleasant woman, but it also reinforced Horatio's view of her; she was a decorous woman even after an ordeal of such danger.

"You don't need to thank us," Horatio replied genially while he couldn't help but study her bloody face further. She turned her head to look at him with a pleasant smile in response to his reply but he saw something in her eyes that worried him somewhat.


	16. Chapter 16

He realised that her sudden confidence was all a show; he'd picked up on the fleeting destruction and anxiety in her eyes. She swallowed when she'd realised he'd picked up on her malaise, but she couldn't draw her eyes away from his now he'd caught her. Blinking a few times, she couldn't help but feel exposed, like he was judging her, but of course the Lieutenant was only concerned about her, he had no interest in judging her, or anyone for that matter. Tilting his head more, he attempted to give her a comforting smile, but due to another torrent of pain, his expression wasn't as reassuring or soothing as he'd liked.

Rebecca's worrisome eyes then began to change, he soon realised that she was also reading him as well as he was reading her. Knowing he'd just opened the front cover for her to begin reading, his heart began to flutter as her eyes slowly wandered down to his legs. The red-head could see that she was observing the way he trekked along beside her; the last thing he wanted was the injured Doctor to probe both him and his leg. She slowly looked back up at him, there was still an ounce of uncertainty in her eyes; she couldn't work out if it was just her mind playing tricks on her or not. She was sure that he was okay as he'd managed to convince her so previously, but her trained eye told her otherwise.

Looking back over to her left, she studied the CSI who seemed to look deeply disgruntled and guilty. She frowned at him while she tried her hardest to work out what his frustration was about; was he hurt? Eric had then noticed that she was looking at him and so looked back to her. With his disappointment multiplying, she realised it was something to do with her while the CSI looked back to where he was walking. She was none the wiser why he felt like that, but he'd begun to hate himself for looking at her chest when she was getting out from the burning truck yard, he knew it was wrong and very unprofessional, he knew that his boss would have his head if he found out.

She felt Horatio's hand on her waist tighten somewhat so swiftly looked back to him to see that he'd gritted his teeth while he took a deep breath. Quickly composing himself when he felt her eyes on her, he looked back towards her. His eyes fell to the left side of her face, they focussed in on the scar under her left ear which took his concentration away from the pain. He could see her thinking hard, perhaps she was still trying to judge whether he was in pain or not. _Having gone days without food and perhaps even tortured, anyone would find it hard to think straight, surely?_ he wondered while he scrutinised her bloody face once more when she'd turned her head to the side more so he wasn't able to see so much of the left side.

_I do know her from somewhere, does she recognise me? Is that what she's thinking about? Or is she becoming aware of my leg? It's hard to hide pain from a Doctor… someone who's trained to look for that sort of thing. Just like it's hard for a killer to pull wool over my eyes. I guess she's been through quite a lot recently though, she might not recognise me because of that. I have spoken to her before though; I know I've had contact with her before. Why's it so difficult to remember? _he mused just as he watched her eyes stray back up to the side of his forehead. Remembering that he'd sustained a cut on the side of his head, he only hoped it wasn't serious otherwise the Doctor would definitely want to sort it out.

He could no longer feel blood trickling down the side of his face, so felt a lot better when the Doctors gaze turned back to where they were  
heading. _It's probably clotted and started to heal… it must only be a small cut,_ he mused to himself as he noticed that she'd begun to think again before she looked back up to him a few moments later, after he'd turned his gaze upon the surroundings.

"How's your hearing? You both temporarily lost it back there due to the blast," she asked confidently once more as she looked from her right to her left. Concern was clearly apparent in her voice but Horatio knew it was a front, he knew that perhaps she was trying to distract herself from what had happened to her by finding out how they were both doing.

"I'm good," Horatio replied as her blue eyes settled on him, she didn't believe him at all and he knew it so he quickly looked away.

"How about you?" she asked tenderly as she tilted her head at the CSI. He looked back to her and nodded while he kept his eyes on hers.

"I'm good, I've just got a bit of ringing in them, but it seems to be decreasing," he replied honestly to which she nodded with a contented smile.

"You should both get your ears checked if you experience any ringing or loss of hearing for an extended period of time," she directed the both of them. Eric nodded at her but Horatio was slightly reluctant. "You need your ears checked," she reiterated compassionately to the stubborn Lieutenant who eventually nodded at her while he raised his eyebrows. _She's just been kidnapped and possibly tortured… possibly sexually assaulted, yet she's telling me to get my ears checked?_ Horatio thought to himself, feeling a little confused. But again, he'd neglected to relate her behaviour to himself; he's the same, he focusses more on others than himself.

Their eyes dropped back down to the grass they were tramping through as they silenced once more and listened to the sound of buzzing crickets. _She's talking, she's walking, it looks like we got to her just in time. She may still be anxious, but at least she's alive, _Horatio thought to himself as he pushed his limp away again and pressed on through another bout of pain.

"Who even reported me missing? I didn't expect to see anyone come to rescue me," she said openly as she broke the silence once more and looked towards the Lieutenant.

"One of your neighbours approached me first, then a work friend of yours," Horatio replied as he turned his head to regard her once more as he looked at her smoothly. Nodding she looked back to the ground and thought to herself for a moment before she looked back up to him, only to realise that he'd not taken his bright blue eyes off her.

"Let me guess, my colleague Jake was the one to report me missing?" she questioned and the red-head nodded at her, a little bewildered by her slightly surprised response. _She genuinely didn't expect anyone to help her? Is she really that alone? If I went missing, I'd like to think that my colleagues would do something about it_. _She actually believed that no-one would report her missing? Something tells me she's someone who doesn't socialise outside of work, much like myself I guess,_ he thought as he looked towards Rebecca sympathetically. Studying her weakening body while she looked down at the grass, he knew she was coming close to her limits, mentally and physically. He knew that victims when given the time to reflect on the recent occurrences, often feel worse before they get better. All he wanted to do was get her back to the road where she could be checked out. He began to feel a little worried about her as he could feel her putting more weight on him while she started to drag her feet along the dry dirt.

"I… I don't feel too well," she admitted with a whisper, just about loud enough for Horatio to understand what she'd said. Immediately stopping, Horatio turned to her and stepped in front of her taking hold of her arm that Eric also had a hold of. The CSI moved a little closer while his boss supported Rebecca as much as he could. The Lieutenant noticed that she was still deathly pale as she frailly looked up at him and took a hold of one of his arms.

"Okay Sweetheart, we're going to take a break. You're okay, Rebecca," Horatio assured warmly as he gently and slowly lowered her to the floor and then sat with her. He was also silently grateful for the break as he could rest his leg once more. Draping an arm around the Doctor's shoulders, the red-head gently pulled her closer so she could lean against him. This time, she didn't resist; she just put her head down on his shoulder as she slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Looking up to his colleague, the Lieutenant squinted in the vibrant sunlight. "Eric, could you please go ahead and get some help? We're not going to walk any further," he commanded softly as he felt the quivering of her body vibrate against his. The CSI quickly turned after nodding at his boss and began to jog away steadily. _She definitely can't walk any further, she's shattered, I'm not surprised, she probably didn't manage to sleep either. Although, with some of her injuries, I'd say she must've been unconscious at some point, she's been beat pretty bad,_ he mused as he gently took hold of her hand and wrist and moved her arm from her lap just to move her to make sure she was still awake.

"I'm sorry," she murmured apologetically, her energy had just been sucked out of her in a split second now that her adrenaline had completely worn off. _This heat can't be helping her condition either, she's probably still very cold inside, but her skin warming up from the sweltering sun,_ he mused as he subtly turned her hand over and looked under her nails. He swallowed when he saw clumps of dead skin from where she'd obviously tried to defend herself. He exhaled forcefully and then closed her fist, engulfing her hand in his as he felt the fury developing deep within his core once more.

"Don't apologise Sweetheart, I could do with the rest myself after all of that," he said lightly as he tried to distract himself from the anger he was beginning to experience; he knew that the anger was of no use in the situation they were in and so, knew he had to save it for when he got back to the station to deal with the villainous man. Slowly nodding as she exhaled steadily, she could feel herself dropping off to sleep before he gently nudged her when he felt her nodding off.

"Stay awake for me please, Rebecca, I know you're exhausted, but you must stay awake," Horatio said tenderly as he began to lightly rub her upper arm with the hand he had draped around her. She swallowed as she looked up at him with heavy eye-lids, she could see the sweat forming on his brow, she then noticed the distortion in the air in the surroundings from where the heat was rising from the ground before she looked back to him. She knew just from his fatigued expression that it was very hot.

"How are you feeling?" he asked to keep her talking. He could feel the heat intensifying as they stay sat in the sun with it beating down on them. He'd managed to mostly shield her from the intense rays while his back took most of the brunt.

"I still feel really cold, despite it being what appears to be a sweltering day," she murmured as she looked back to the dried grass by her bloody sneakers. He reached over and took hold of her other hand and then consumed both of her hands with his to warm her icy fingers up. _She really is freezing… she must've been in there for hours? How did she survive? _he wondered as he then began to rub her hands.

"Thank you for everything Lieutenant," she thanked quietly but sincerely as she looked at the grass blankly, she could feel herself slipping into a daze, probably to try and give her brain the rest it needed. Horatio knew she was zoning out so kept moving her hands and keeping her physically stimulated in case she fell asleep; he was afraid that if she fell asleep, he wouldn't be able to wake her.

"It's my pleasure, Rebecca, I'm just happy that you're alive and well," Horatio replied delicately but could feel his heart warming as he knew she was eternally grateful for everything he'd done. He was just genuinely happy that he'd made a difference to her life, he was very contented as he'd managed to save her.

"May I say something? I don't want you to take it the wrong way though…" she murmured as she lifted her head sluggishly and glanced back to him to look him in the eye. He nodded with a kind smile and encouraged her to go on, unaware of what she was going to say.


	17. Chapter 17

"You're either absolutely barking mad, incredibly brave or just plain stupid. I can't tell… you saved me, saved your colleague and pulled me through fire, all with a leg wound that you're trying your best to hide," she mumbled as she looked into his eyes with an unsure frown, as if she was trying to work out which he was, if not a combination of all of them. Exhaling with a hidden smile, he glanced down to the straw-like grass between his legs. _She's got a point I think… she has also noticed my injury, I guess I knew I couldn't hide that from a Doctor,_ he thought to himself.

Raising his head once more to look at her, he tilted his head and slowly took his sunglasses off. "You know what? I think I'm mad and stupid, but that's the fun of it," Horatio said warmly hoping to make light out of the situation while he gave her a natural smile. Listening to the faint giggle that escaped her lips, he couldn't help but smile more himself as he looked down to his sunglasses and began to fiddle with them. _At least I managed to get a laugh and smile from her, that's a good sign,_ he thought to himself as he turned his head again to look at her. Examining her small smile, he felt the sleek frame of his sunglasses slip through his fingers with ease as he ran his index finger and thumb up and down one of the metal arms.

"I'm not sure that you're completely mad and stupid; I think a lot of bravery comes into what you did today, and determination as well," she replied as his eyes continued to search her sickly looking appearance, she was still as pale as a blank sheet of white paper underneath the dark red dried blood. He looked down shyly while she continued to scrutinise him as she'd begun to vaguely recognise him.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" she questioned him softly and tilted her head to the side and looked at his sunglasses in his hands.

Looking up at her, he knitted his brow together and began to try and think himself, he knew he'd met her before. "I'm not sure," he replied while he fiddled with his shades continuously. They both took a moment to try and think, but neither could put their fingers on it. _She does recognise me, we've definitely met before then,_ he mused.

"Are you local?" the Doctor asked to which Horatio nodded.

"Not far from you, perhaps we've just seen each other around?"

"It's possible I guess, but I know you from somewhere else… do you run in the local nature reserve?" she questioned to which he nodded at her again. "I thought I recognised you, you helped me out when there was a vehicle collision on the main road by the reserve a few months ago," she said and suddenly it clicked in his head. _Yeah, that's it! The family that were trapped in their car after a large HGV truck collided with them. I knew I'd spoken to her before, _he thought to himself while he felt a wave of relief float over him, he could finally free up that corner of his mind that constantly thought about where he knew her from.

"I thought I knew you and your name from somewhere," he said as his fury began to get the better of him once more; he knew just how much the Doctor cared for others, he remembered her putting her own life in danger just to keep the children in the over turned car calm. He zoned out slightly as he stared blankly down at the grass and began to relive the day clearly.

Running along his usual trail, he could feel sweat on his brow forming quickly. He quickly swiped it with his forearm and continued with his steady pace and breathing before he gave it his all for the end of the run back to the main road. He looked to his left to see a woman on a different trail running in the direction he was, she was considerably faster than he though. _She's much younger, of course she's going to be fitter than me,_ he told himself before he began to step up his pace for the last leg when suddenly, he heard a loud crash come from the main road where he was heading towards. The crunch of metal resonated in his ears as both he and the woman about 30 meters to his left stopped. Panting, he felt the buzz of adrenaline seep into his bloodstream, kick-starting his legs once more and powered him over to the scene. The woman turned to him after she'd also ran over to the car.

"Call for an ambulance!" she ordered him as she crouched down and surveyed the people in the car quickly while Horatio pulled his phone out and got in contact with dispatch to inform them of the incident. He looked around the scene, a HGV truck lay on its side in the middle of the road with its contents of canned soda drinks spilling out of the back where the doors had broken while the red family car rested crumpled on its roof. An eerie sound of silence emanated from the car and the surroundings. Everything stopped, all cars had halted, people walking by had paused and all just stared, no-one offered to help. The Lieutenant looked back to the truck and saw the large driver climbing out of his cabin.

"Sir, sit down, help is on its way!" Horatio ordered before he rushed over to the car and crouched beside the woman in her running gear.

"Ma'am step back, I'm Lieutenant Horatio Caine, help is on its way, I've informed dispatch," he commanded as he placed his hand on her back and looked into the smashed up car himself to see one of the 2 children beginning to rouse from unconsciousness. He noticed all 4 passengers were bleeding, both adults had been knocked out cold while one of the children had a little more consciousness.

"Hey Sweetie, try not to panic for me, can you tell me your name?" the woman asked one of the children as she reached over to him.

"Ma'am, please step back, help is on its way," the red-head insisted just as a strong odour of gas began to fill the air.

"Lieutenant, I am a Doctor, I am not leaving these patients," she argued back as she dropped her water bottle to the floor and moved onto her hands and knees. She leant down again and looked up at the child with a tender, reassuring smile as he opened his eyes and looked over to her.

"Don't move Sweetie, you're okay. I'm Rebecca and I'm a Doctor, you're going to be fine. I'm going to come in there with you and your sister, okay? Just stay still for me," she said very warmly before she started to crawl in through the smashed back window, ignoring the billions of shards of glass shredding her hands and knees just to get to the children and their parents.

"Doctor, you can't go in there," Horatio whispered as he reached down and took hold of her calf to try and stop her from crawling but she just looked back to him with hard, blue eyes that weren't to be messed with. She then continued to enter the ruined vehicle. Letting go of the Doctors calf, the Lieutenant leant down to get a better look into the car and felt a shard of glass impale his palm, but at the same time, he also felt the sharp sting of his calf, bringing him straight out of his memories and into the hot present day.

Leaning forwards, he placed his hand over his calf, but managed to keep his facial expression soft so the Doctor didn't suspect a thing. She looked down at her fingers as she fiddled with her broken nails while she continued to reflect on the past herself.

"I've also met you long before that, I was a witness to a murder… the murder of Kelly Floop about 5 years ago… the killer had murdered her in cold blood right in the middle of a bank. You were the arresting officer after I'd managed to identify him, along with other witnesses. I'd just finished my first day of transferring over to paediatric neurology and one of your colleagues accidentally spilt their coffee down my new cream coloured dress," she said pleasantly while she thought back to the situation. Horatio looked back to her and smiled delicately, remembering the case well, just as he did with any other case, no matter how old it was. Each murder, each victim seemed to have a place in his mind, that was something he could never escape. He'd begun to remember her well, he recalled that she was a very helpful witness, she was able to provide details that others had overlooked, such as the limp the killer walked with and the surgical scar he had along his forearm.

"Who was your colleague? He had dark hair and stubble… Tom? He tried to apologise by offering to take me out for coffee after spilling his coffee on me…" she said kindly with a slightly cheery smile as she remembered the offer from the young officer.

"Tim Speedle?" Horatio asked warmly to which she nodded as she looked back into his eyes.

"Yes, that's it, to this day I'm not so sure it was an accident... but he was a brilliant cop; he knew his stuff. Do you still work with him?" she asked as she tilted her head to the side and squinted a little more in the bright sunshine. _She knew Speed, she'd met him… he was a brilliant CSI, she's right…_ The Lieutenant thought as he took a deep breath as he looked away from the Doctor and down to the grass, pressing his lips together. Exhaling heavily he gently shook his head while he looked back up to her.

"Unfortunately he was killed about a year ago," Horatio answered quietly, avoiding eye contact with her before he looked back at the ground between them. It was clear that he was still very affected. _If I'd made sure he cleaned his gun, he probably would have been by my side today,_ he thought to himself as he swallowed once more and then swiped the sweat from his brow while he just stared off into the distance. Reaching over, the Doctor settled her hand on his arm, causing him to look back up at her with raised eyebrows; he was slightly surprised to feel her making contact with him.

"I'm very sorry to hear that, Lieutenant. I'm sorry for your loss," she said sensitively as she looked into his eyes and saw the glimmer of hurt that remained. He nodded as he managed a small smile in an effort to show her that he was fine. She slowly removed her hand from his arm as she looked back to the grass by her feet and raised her hand to her face.

Rubbing her left eye, she felt a surge of pain shoot through her eye socket, causing her to stop immediately as she hissed quietly in pain. The pain in her eye radiated into her head as Horatio looked back to her and saw her obvious discomfort. Blinking a few times, she realised that the sight in her left eye was slightly blurred while she looked over to Horatio when she felt his eyes fixed on her. Feeling as if she was under the microscope, she shyly looked back down to the grass and took a deep breath as he placed his sunglasses around his neck. _What did he hit her with to cause such extensive damage? Did he just use his fists?_ he tried to figure out.

Reaching over, the red-head positioned his hand on her shoulder as he inclined his head to the right and observed her closely. "Look at me for a moment, Sweetheart," he said warmly as he moved a little closer and tried to inspect at her injuries meticulously when he realised that they were much more painful than she'd let on.

"I'm good," she insisted as she continued to look at the grass and then realised that she was doing exactly as he was, trying to mask her injuries from him.

"I just want to look," Horatio asserted smoothly as his hand remained on her shoulder while his eyes scrutinised every detail he could of the blood on the side of her face. His eyes observed her darkened, swollen and bloody skin while she continued to look down, unwilling to make eye contact with him. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked as he looked into both of her eyes for the truth but he couldn't read her as she refused to look him in the eye, but that action alone told him that perhaps she was. However, she just shook her head and briefly looked him in the eye before she looked up to the gash on the side of his forehead.

"I just got this when I fought against him," she said quietly while she looked towards the sky and turned her head to the left slightly as she felt a little uncomfortable with someone so close to her injured face. He knitted his brow as he moved both his hands to gently feel the bridge of her nose with his thumbs, hoping that it wasn't broken. _I don't think her nose is broken, but I'm not a Doctor,_ he thought to himself.

"Are you sure? Because there was a lot of blood that seemed to be cleared up at his office, as well as some in your kitchen," Horatio asked as she gently pushed his hands away from her face before she looked down to the dried grass and exhaled. He quickly withdrew his hands further and pulled his shades from his neck but continued to look at her as she raised a hand to her nose to check it out properly herself.

"Yeah, I'm fine… noses bleed a lot if you hit them hard enough," she murmured as she removed her hand from her nose and pulled the jacket around her a little tighter. Her eyes slowly wandered back over to his legs and she noticed that he wasn't laying his right leg down against the floor as he was doing with his left, indicating that it was hurting.

"Are you okay? What have you done to your leg?" she asked as she looked back up at him with curiosity beaming brightly in her eyes. He looked down to his leg before he looked back at her, he just didn't want her to worry about him at all.

"I'm good, I just caught my leg on something earlier, it's nothing serious. It has been sorted out," he answered confidently as he pulled his sunglasses back on, shielding his eyes from the intense light. She squinted at him, unsure whether to believe him or not, but now that he'd partially shielded his eyes, she was unable to decipher if he was being truthful. Looking back down to her hands, the Lieutenant tried to find something he could use to turn the attention back onto her, but he could already feel her doing the exact same to him.

The Doctor had already worked out that he had a thick bandage around his leg due to how his trousers hung around his leg, so her worry began to ease as she nodded at him. "As long as you're okay and you didn't do anything to it back there, I'm not going to question you about it… _if_ you don't question me more about my injuries," she responded as she sat up straight and crossed her legs as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Dr Henderson, we're going to have to find out everything we can if we're to put him in prison for as long as possible," leaning forwards the red-head said smoothly as he crooked his head to the right to try and gain eye contact. Clasping his hands together, he saw something fleet across her eyes, something she wanted to keep hidden, something he couldn't work out. _She's not telling me everything, she's almost definitely received more injuries, her nose and head couldn't have produced that much blood, surely? She's hiding something… she looks ashamed? Maybe she's been assaulted badly, maybe even sexually assaulted? I won't know if she doesn't talk to me, _he believed as he slowly moved over to her and began to rub her upper arms once more to help warm her shivering body. She just remained silent as she stared down at her bloody sneakers, seemingly lost in her thoughts and breathing a little more deeply than normal.

"I'm a police officer… a Lieutenant, Rebecca, anything you tell me will be held in confidence and is strictly confidential, if he's hurt you in any other way, I can put him in prison for a longer sentence and I will be able to help you out to the best of my ability," Horatio urged her gently, hoping to coax out whatever it was she wanted buried.

She slowly turned her head to look at him with an unreadable, hard expression before she exhaled heavily and then just stood up. Taking a few steps away from him, she turned to him and crossed her arms once more.

"Look, I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm fine. I put up a fight, I got a smashed up face and I'm cold, but that's all, alright?" she asked as she knitted her brow and looked at him, it was clear to him that he'd stepped on a sore spot. _Very defensive, but that is usual… especially for sexual assault victims,_ he mused as he maintained his peaceful appearance.

Slowly, he made his way to his feet as he pulled his sunglasses off once more so he was able to make clear eye contact with her. He placed his hands upon his hips as he took a step closer towards her and tilted his head to the side.

"I'm not thinking anything Rebecca; it's my duty to make sure you're safe and uninjured, but to also find everything I can out to deliver the correct punishment to those who deserve it," he soothed tenderly but she'd begun to sluggishly walk away as she shook her head. _She's very reluctant to talk about it, it does suggest sexual assault, but I can't just assume anything,_ he thought while she continued to walk away from him. _She's running away, I'm pushing her too far. She can barely walk, is she that desperate to hide from what happened?_ he asked himself as he studied her closed off bodily language.

"Rebecca," Horatio called delicately as he caught up with her and placed his hand on one of her upper arms. Stopping, she turned and looked up at him, expecting him to push her further into talking to him. _Maybe it is just still too early, she might not be ready to reflect on what has gone on, not until she's in a very safe and secure environment,_ he pondered as he stepped out in front of her and placed both hands on her upper arms.

"Rebecca, I understand that talking to me is the last thing you want to do right now, okay? I understand that. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Horatio said warmly as she looked at his sunglasses around his neck while his crystal blue eyes began to explore the cut above her left eyebrow. She swallowed as her eyes slowly wandered up to his to see him examining something. He'd noticed that there was a shard of broken glass in the wound. _She's been hit with a bottle… that looks like the glass from a beer bottle,_ he thought as his lips tightened together, feeling another bout of rage smoke deep within. _I really need to get her to the hospital and soon, _he mused as he swallowed and then looked back down to her blue eyes.

"Thank you for the concern, Lieutenant, but I'm fine, really," she assured him as she sighed heavily and shook her head. She looked down at his shirt as she began to feel slightly lightheaded, she could see a distinct blood pattern on his shirt, she could see a print of her bloody face against his chest where he'd dived over her to protect her from one of the blasts. He stepped closer and wrapped one of his arms around her waist to give her the support she needed.

"Let's sit down, Rebecca," he suggested as he looked to the ground and prepared himself to sit once more before he looked back up at her when she tried to move out from his grip.

"I'm fine, I don't want to sit down; I've spent the last 3 days sitting down, you're more than welcome though. In fact, I advise you to sit down instead of standing," she murmured as she continued to look at his shirt, avoiding eye contact with him.

"We can stand, that's fine, but if you collapse I will make sure you go to hospital in an ambulance and I'll make sure they thoroughly check you over, I might even persuade them to keep you overnight just for good measures as you're clearly in need of some medical attention. I doubt the hospital is where you want to be spending the night, I think it's the last place you want to be right now," Horatio replied simply, but it was very clear that he was gravely concerned and only looking out for her. Pressing her lips together as her blue eyes briefly connected with his, she sighed as she raised one arm and took hold of his forearm. Her eyes studied his firm expression before she looked away and momentarily closed her eyes to try and stop the dizziness getting the better of her. She knew he was right, her inner Doctor was telling her to listen to him, she knew she needed medical attention, but she also didn't want the fuss. She knew he'd keep his word and didn't doubt that he'd manage to have some sort of influence over the outcome of her hospital visit.

_I don't want to argue with the man that just saved my life. He put his own life on the line, just to save me. The least I can do is try and make his job much easier,_ she thought as she slowly looked back to him and nodded. Gradually making their way to the ground, they sat next to each other, both exhausted and both in pain. She looked over to him once they'd settled and watched him remove his sunglasses from his neck before he rubbed his eyes and his brow once more. _I really need to get out of the sun, I need to get her out of the sun too, it can't be doing her any good, _he thought to himself before he looked back to her and realised she was observing him again.

"I'm sorry Lieutenant, I didn't mean to cause you anymore annoyance or worry," she apologised quietly before she looked down to the sleeves of the large jacket before she pulled them down to cover her cold bloody hands. He looked to her with a tender expression and smiled lightly as the jacket swallowed her up like a huge blanket.

"You didn't cause any annoyance, just a bit of worry," he admitted as he crooked his head to the right while he placed his hand on her arm once more. She slowly nodded as she took a deep breath.

"I never asked, how would you prefer to be addressed?" she questioned as she looked back to him, fully closing her black eye and squinting with the other. She could feel her body weakening substantially due to the involuntary quivering that shook her body violently, but she wanted to keep her mind off the sensation of ice freezing her core.

"You may call me what you want, but Horatio is fine," he replied and she nodded with a small pleasant smile.

"What about yourself? What do you prefer to be called?" he questioned genially as he began to fiddle with his sunglasses in both hands again.

"Whatever you want really; Rebecca, Doctor, Dr Henderson, Miss Henderson, but don't call me Ma'am, thank you," she replied pleasantly and Horatio nodded as his mind began to wander slightly. _Rebecca Henderson… she was the victim of a fire when she was a child… why does that still sound familiar, I'm sure I know her from somewhere else,_ he mused.

"Do I know you from somewhere other than that car crash and that murder?" he asked bluntly when he couldn't put his finger on what was so familiar about her name.

"No, that's the only time I've met you," she replied almost sharply, as if she was adamant that she'd never met him before. He knitted his brow mildly as he looked at her. _She's clearly hiding something again, I think I should leave it for now,_ he thought as he looked down to his shirt and could feel himself beginning to perspire in the ever rising temperature. He exhaled heavily as a bead of sweat rolled down from his forehead. He caught it with the sleeve of his shirt before it had a chance to reach his cheek. The Doctor had looked back down to her sneakers as she pressed her lips together, losing herself in her thoughts.

The red-head knew that before long his shirt would become saturated in his own sweat, which is something he'd rather avoid. That or he'd dehydrate before he managed to soak his shirt, which he also wanted to avoid. He raised a hand to the button below the top button to undo it before he pulled his shirt open slightly. Exhaling heavily, he caught her attention and she noticed the heat having a significant effect on him. Looking back to her, he noticed that her shivering wasn't as intense, implying that she was slowly warming up in the heat of the sun, or that perhaps she was becoming so exhausted, her body simply couldn't tremble any more.

_Eric had better get here soon,_ Horatio grumbled to himself as he looked in the direction the CSI had run. Sighing when there was no sign of his colleague he glanced back to Rebecca who'd stilled and stared down at the ground just behind the Lieutenant as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Rebecca?" he questioned cautiously as he reached over and placed his hand on her arm. His concern jumped to a great height as he studied her troubled eyes.

"I… urm… there… there's… urm," she paused as she looked down at the floor stunned by something that was clearly distressing her. Slowly lifting her left arm to point in the direction she was looking, she tried to signal to him to look when the words wouldn't escape her gawping mouth.


	18. Chapter 18

"Are you okay, Sweetheart?" he asked warmly as he moved his hand down to her forearm. He knitted his brow together before he looked towards her left hand to see her gesturing towards something. _What's wrong? Has she seen something?_ Horatio questioned himself as he glanced up and into the distance but couldn't see a thing, there was nothing but farmland. Neither a man nor animal, just dried grass and blue sky with the high-pitched grating of hundreds of crickets surrounding them. _There's nothing there, what's she pointing at?_ he asked himself as he looked back to her and saw her looking at the ground, not in the distance.

"There… there's a hand there, Lieutenant," she whispered once she was able to speak again. It was clear that she was in complete shock, she couldn't move and she could barely speak loud enough for the red-head to hear her. His eyes widened as he tried to process what she'd said. _A hand? Did I just hear her correctly? What does she mean? She might just be very confused,_ he pondered as he reached over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder lightly. Swallowing as she turned her head to look back to him, he could see that she wasn't confused at all, but she was in fact deadly serious. She had the look of someone who'd seen a dead body, he'd seen that look before and knew exactly what she meant. _She actually means she's seen a hand,_ he realised as he slowly turned his head towards the area she'd been pointing too. He'd noticed that her breathing rate had increased as panic began to set in once she'd realised what she'd seen was real and it wasn't just her eyes playing a terrible trick on her.

"Lieutenant… there's a hand in the dirt, there's… there's a hand right there," she stuttered shakily as she withdrew her left arm from the gesture and quickly stood up from the dusty ground. She stared down at the area as she began to take a few steps back while Horatio's eyes located what she'd been talking about. With his heart beginning to beat wildly, he realised she was right; his jaw slacked as he examined the dirty, decomposing feminine hand in the dirt. Taking a large gasp of air, Horatio very quickly moved to crouch by the half-buried hand, he knew that the hand was still attached to the body; he could see that the dirt had been recently disturbed. _There's actually someone's hand there! There's a body here! It appears that a small animal has been trying to dig here and has taken a few bites from this woman's hand, _he imagined while he quickly pulled his phone from his pocket to ring Eric. Scrolling through his contacts, he came to Eric's number and hovered his finger over the dial button before he glanced back to the Doctor.

She looked mortified, worse than when he'd rescued her. _She's a Doctor, she's used to death, isn't she? But I guess she isn't used to seeing a buried body of someone who's been killed. This is not what she needs,_ he swallowed as he looked her trembling body up and down momentarily. She'd covered her mouth with one of her hands as she froze to the spot and knitted her brow together.

"Rebecca, Sweetheart… can you do me a favour and sit down for me, please?" the Lieutenant asked while he looked up and into her horrified blue eyes. He could see her weakness, the last thing he wanted was for her to collapse from exhaustion and lack of food. "Rebecca, look at me Sweetheart, I need you to sit down," he repeated warmly as he slowly began to rise to his feet as he wasn't sure she could physically move herself. Silently she looked at him and then nodded before she slowly slumped to the ground and sat there. Horatio smiled sweetly at her and slowly crouched back down as he nodded comfortingly at her. "Alright?" he asked her to which she nodded silently again as she gawped back at the ground by him. Once he was happy that she wasn't going to collapse and hurt herself, he looked back to the hand and dialled for his colleague as he brought the phone up towards his ear. His eyes scrutinised the Earth around the body thoroughly to see if he could find any incriminating evidence. _Someone is missing their wife, has she been reported missing?_ he wondered as his eyes settled back on her hand and on the wedding band around her ring finger.

"Eric? It's Horatio," the Lieutenant greeted when he heard his colleague answer. It was clear to the CSI that something was wrong due to the sharp tone in Horatio's voice.

"H, everything okay? I'm on my way back now with a few fire and rescue officers," Eric notified his boss as he breathed steadily, keeping his pace up with the 3 officers in front of him running at a steady pace.

"If it's possible I need you to hurry up, Rebecca needs medical attention as soon as possible. I also need both you and Calleigh here with your kits, as well as Alexx; we've found a body in a shallow grave exactly where you left us. She's probably linked with Paul, he must have something to do with this," Horatio explained placidly so he didn't alarm the Doctor more so.

"What?" the CSI asked having thought that he hadn't heard his boss correctly. He raised his other hand and put a finger in his other ear to try and hear the Lieutenant a little better.

"I need you and Calleigh here because we've found a body buried in a shallow grave, I also need Alexx here too to get this body back for examination. I'll call in Mister Wolfe and Walter to help out; our crime scene has just got bigger, this is probably linked to Paul. It's likely that any usable evidence will be here rather than at his burnt office," Horatio replied clearly as he stood up and placed one hand on his hip as he looked around thoroughly.

"Okay H, are you both okay though?" Eric questioned before he directed the fire & rescue officers in the right direction.

"We're fine, just hurry up and make sure there's an ambulance on stand-by," Horatio ordered quietly as he knew the injured woman would argue with him over it, but she'd already heard.

"No ambulance, they are for emergencies, not this," she argued causing Horatio to turn back to her and frown down at her. _I'd class her as an emergency,_ he thought as he watched her peel her eyes away from the body and look up at him with a frown herself.

"We need an ambulance, Sweetheart," he insisted as his frown morphed into a charming expression, hoping to sway her.

"Lieutenant, seriously, I do not need an ambulance. They're already stretched thinly enough around this city without attending the non-emergency calls," she replied causing Horatio to exhale heavily as he turned back to the body and looked down at it.

"No ambulance, Eric, just hurry up and call Calleigh to bring her kit," Horatio ordered while he removed his hand from his hip and gently pinched the bridge of his nose. _I can't order for an ambulance if she refuses, can I? She is a Doctor, she would know if she needed an ambulance, wouldn't she? _he thought.

"Sure thing H, we'll be there soon," Eric answered before they hung up on each other. Glancing back, the red-head realised that the Doctor had been sucked back into her state of shock as she looked back to the ground and covered her mouth.

Looking at her sympathetically, he took a deep breath and crooked his head to the right. "Rebecca, are you okay?" he questioned as he turned to her fully. She swallowed hard as she looked back to him and silently nodded. Her stomach had started to churn before she looked back down to the grass by her feet, she attempted to push away the intense nausea by focussing on the single blades of dead grass. Her already sickly looking appearance only worsened, causing Horatio a great deal of concern. "Hang in there Sweetheart," he encouraged tenderly before he turned back to the body and began to ring Frank.

"Frank, it's Horatio," he greeted as the Detective answered the phone.

"H, I was just about to call you, I'm at the airport, no sign of Paul Gunner yet. The little twerp won't get far though," the Texan said sounding very determined while he stood in the middle of a large hall with officers around him also on the look-out. _He won't get through airport security, why is he even trying?_ the Lieutenant wondered as he glanced up and around at the farmland surrounding them, just hoping not to see any other shallow graves.

"Okay Frank, I need you here after you find him. We've got a body not far from Paul's truck yard, I think he's probably got his filthy hands all over this case," Horatio growled lowly as his lips tightened. Once again, his fury with the culprit was raging inside of him, all he wanted to do was get his hands on Paul. He wasn't even sure what he'd do if he managed it, but he knew it wouldn't be pleasant.

"A body… not Rebecca?" Frank questioned slightly alarmed and a little confused while he continuously scanned the airport with his eyes diligently.

"No, Rebecca is alive and she's with me now. We've just come across another body in the farmland behind his truck yard. I don't know how long she's been here, but it doesn't look long, she's in the early stages of decomposition," Horatio explained softly while he tried to beat down the growing fire inside his core. Examining the woman's nails, he furrowed his brow deeply and scowled furiously; her nails were chipped and she had skin stuck under them, just like the Doctor's. _Rebecca could have been buried here if we hadn't have found her today… she could have been next. This has got Paul written all over it, _he mused as his lips tightened together again and felt his heart beating strongly.

"Okay H, I'll get over there as soon as I find this delinquent," Frank replied with a hand on his hip, he'd noticed the smouldering anger in his colleagues voice, he could also feel himself wanting to find Paul all the more.

Taking a large deep breath as he glanced back to Rebecca, the red-heads eyes narrowed on a bruise in the shape of a bite mark by her collarbone. _That wasn't there before, that must mean that it's developing… which means it's recent,_ he thought and immediately tensed. She looked back up at him when she felt his eyes scrutinising her closely and noticed he was staring at her collarbone. He soon realised that she'd clocked on to him when she looked down to her collarbone and saw the bruise herself. Looking back to him with wide eyes she quickly raised a hand and covered it before she looked away. _She's trying to hide it, she's been assaulted… why else would she be ashamed of it, why would she be trying to hide it?_ He pondered and felt his temper flaring, he knew he was reaching his boiling point and that there was only so long until he exploded with rage. The sweet thought of his hands around Paul's neck began to develop as he gritted his teeth and looked back to the dirt, shaking his head.

"H?" the Detective asked when his colleague had been silent for some time.

"Frank… leave Paul to me," Horatio requested sinisterly as he looked back to Rebecca who was looking down at the ground having pulled her knees up to her chest and made herself as small as she could. She'd covered herself up completely with his large jacket and hyperventilated through panic, fear and what appeared to be shame.

"Sure thing, Horatio," Frank replied before they both hung up on each other, the Detective knew exactly why the red-head wanted Paul to be left to him. Putting his phone away, Horatio slowly rose to his feet, being wary of his calf and then headed towards the Doctor. _This is probably one of the worst days of her life, she doesn't deserve any of this at all,_ he told himself as he slowly crouched in front of her and placed both hands over hers.

"Sweetheart, I know it's difficult, but you must slow your breathing down, can you do that for me?" he empathetically asked while he tilted his head to the right and gained eye contact with her once she'd lifted her head. Swallowing, her eyes darted from his right eye to his left quickly, she felt his compassion radiate through his caring blue eyes and felt slightly more at ease.

"She's dead… she… she was murdered?" she stammered quietly as she knitted her brow and looked back over to the hand in the dirt. She gasped when she saw the glint of the wedding ring from where the sunlight was bouncing off the grubby gold. Looking back to the Lieutenant for his answer, he saw her desperateness to get as far away from the situation as possible, who could blame her? Anyone in their right mind would want to run for the hills if they were in that situation.

"Yes… she has been murdered but I don't want you to worry about that, okay? I want you to focus on me, can you do that, Rebecca?" he asked delicately while he cautiously reached out towards her face and cupped her chin to very gently guide her face towards him. He felt her fists tighten when his fingers made contact with her chin but she made no effort to stop him. Her eyes slowly wandered back over to him while he moved his hand to gently cup her cheek. _This isn't what she needs now, she's in total shock, _he thought to himself as he just steadily exhaled, feeling very sympathetic towards the stressed Doctor, he could understand why she'd be feeling so stressed, anyone else in her position would be the same.

"Sweetheart, I need you to try and take some deep breaths, I know it's difficult. But we're going to take care of everything, okay? We're going to catch the man that did this, I promise you that," Horatio assured her confidently. She nodded slowly at him as she could hear the conviction in his voice and knew he would try his damned hardest to find the culprit.

"There was blood in Stephen's office before I was there… was it him? Has he… has he murdered someone?" she whispered as she looked back to where the body was lying while she thought back to the blood in his office. She quickly pulled her hands away from him and wrapped her arms around herself after pushing his hand away from her face and looking down to the ground again. _She's remembered something… something bad by the looks of it, _he mused while he studied her behaviour once more. Respecting her need for space, he kept his hands to himself.

"Stephen's real name is Paul and I think it's likely that he's the man who's done this. But I don't want you to worry, we will catch him," he assured her with pure determination.

Looking back up at him, she nodded. "Please catch him and please put him in jail, he's a sick man," she whispered again and Horatio nodded at her as he continued to look at her compassionately, but didn't touch her.

"I can do that Sweetheart, he's not going to hurt anyone else," he soothed as he watched her eyes fixate on something else in the distance. The same look of horror crossed her face as she looked over his shoulder while she swallowed. His heartbeat had felt like it stopped for a moment before he reached out and placed one hand over hers again.

"Rebecca?" he asked, he thought that she was just slipping further into shock, but she wasn't, she'd seen something else. Her jaw dropped open once more as she tried to get the words out but she was stunned into silence once more. She raised one hand to his shoulder and physically turned him by pushing him around to face the direction she was looking.


	19. Chapter 19

He glanced back to see what she was pointing at and saw a rather hefty Bull charging towards them. The beating of his heart began to pound as his jaw dropped open almost as wide as hers. With his eyes widening and his heart trying to make an escape by leaping into his throat he reached out towards Rebecca and took hold of her upper arm. _Oh no,_ he swallowed as his mouth became incredibly dry.

"Cows aren't dangerous, are they?" she questioned with a whisper as she reached out and also took hold of his upper arm, ready to make a run for it with him. She squinted further at the animal but couldn't quite make it out as her long-distance vision was blurred. Horatio's thoughts had amplified while he tried to work out what to do but his body remained still in hope that he wouldn't draw attention to them. _We need to get to safety, but I can't leave the body here,_ he thought as he swallowed and felt Rebecca's grip tighten on his bicep.

"That's a Bull… an angry Bull at that," Horatio murmured as his eyes narrowed on the dark brown beast charging at them. _It's heading straight for us, staying still isn't helping,_ he soon realised as both felt a surge of adrenaline rush through their blood streams. _Rebecca can't run and I'm not sure I can either!_ he realised as his palms began to sweat profusely due to the extra stress and intense fear for his life as well as the Doctors.

He felt a large gust of wind sweep across the farm land, lifting a plastic bag into the air, momentarily distracting the heated brute. Relief quickly washed over him as the temporary interference of the bag had given him a chance to think. _I can't leave this body,_ he mused as he pulled his gun from his hip and took the safety off, ready to shoot the animal if it became a threat to them once more. _I could make the situation worse if I fire my weapon, but it has to be done, doesn't it?_ he questioned himself as he removed his hand from the woman's shoulder and stepped in front of her.

Training the gun on the animals head, he readied himself to take the kill shot to protect himself, the Doctor and the body if the Bull were to charge at them again. _I don't want to kill this animal, this is someone's livelihood,_ he swallowed as he felt the air still and watched the plastic bag fall to the ground. "Rebecca, stay very still," Horatio commanded smoothly as his eyes narrowed on the beast when it turned to them once more, having lost interest in the plastic bag. _It's going to charge at us again, I'll have to shoot it,_ he realised with his heart still beating wildly. Seconds before he pulled the trigger, he felt Rebecca grab his arm and drag him away. He could have shot himself in the foot if he hadn't have removed his finger from the trigger.

"Rebecca!" he shouted involuntarily as it could have been disastrous. Their movement had prompted the animal to hurtle towards them again. He swiftly turned to face the direction they were running as he put his gun back in his holster; he knew that their only option now was to run as fast as they could. Suddenly, pain struck the Lieutenant like a lightning bolt, not even the adrenaline could mask it but he pushed through it to run for his life. Silently cursing to himself he gripped his right thigh as felt the blood gushing through his arteries. He could feel the beads of sweat rolling down his face from his forehead as well as moisture developing on his back; it was not a nice sensation but was the least of his worries. He knew he couldn't run for much longer; his calf felt like it was being torn in two but he couldn't do anything about it; it was either run in agony, or stop and be mauled to death by an irate Bull.

Noticing the Doctor's increasing fatigue while she slackened, he took hold of her upper arm and began to pull her along as the thoughts about his painful leg disappeared and switched to Rebecca.

"You can do this, Rebecca," Horatio encouraged as they ran towards the fence that Eric had sprung over with ease. Feeling another gust of wind, he glanced back to see that the Bull had been distracted by the plastic bag again. He exhaled with extreme relief while he and the Doctor came to a halt by the fence. _It's an electric fence, great, _he mused just as Rebecca reached out and took hold of the wire, without realising it was electrified.

"Don't touch it!" he called loudly as he quickly pulled her away just after she received a shock. She yelped in pain and quickly clenched her fists tightly as she stepped back towards him and then turned to him. "It's an electric fence," Horatio explained just as she looked back over to the Bull that had caught the plastic bag on one of its horns and had begun to buck furiously.

Looking back to the red-head, she studied his concerned expression as he looked down at her hands. "Yeah, I gathered that," she replied as she then turned to the fence while her hands recovered from the minor jolt of electricity.

Glancing back himself, he knew that the bag wasn't going to distract the animal for long. "We can't stay here with that Bull, we'll have to get out," Horatio said as he looked back to the fence and stepped towards it while his heartbeat began to calm somewhat. _We can probably fit under it, she can, I might be able to. Just how did Eric get over this without getting shocked?_ _At least it's only got 3 electric wires so it is possible to get under, _he pondered and watched the Doctor already trying to get under the fence as she'd had the same idea as he.

"Be careful," he warned as he slowly crouched and watched her shuffle under the fence while his calf ached tremendously. He continuously kept a watchful ear out for the Bull as he could hear it stomping around loudly, but unexpectedly, it silenced, causing Horatio's heart rate to escalate. Looking back, his eyes widened again as he saw the large beast standing still and just staring at them, he knew that it was going to charge at them again. He swallowed hard as his thoughts silenced as he turned back to face the Doctor.

Rebecca had begun to stand up on the other side when Horatio started to shuffle under the fence as swiftly as he could. She'd noticed the animal heading towards them again and quickly crouched down with wide eyes as she took hold of his arm. "I don't want to alarm you, but that Bull is right there…" she informed him as she began to help drag him under. _Why is she telling me that?!_ _She could tell me not to worry as I have plenty of time! _he mused as he felt himself worry a little more.

"I know," he replied before his chest made contact with the wire, giving him a painful, but not serious shock. He managed to withhold the quiet moan that wanted to escape his throat as he sucked his chest and stomach in as much as he could.

Glancing back up, the Doctor could see the Bull getting very close. Suddenly with a burst of adrenaline she had the energy to quickly drag him a meter away from the fence and to safety. Collapsing to the ground through exhaustion as her muscles quivered, she let go of the Lieutenants arm while she sat beside him while she steadily took a couple of deep breaths. She could feel her heart leaping into her throat as she stared at the beast. Horatio slowly sat up and watched the Bull turn away from the fence once it had reached it. Both of them exhaled their pent-up fear away. _What more could today throw at us?_ he asked himself as he turned his head back to the Doctor.

"Thank you," he graciously said as he began to try and rub his calf delicately in an effort to relax the tense muscle.

Nodding at him after she looked back to him, she then looked down to his hand and leg. "Are you okay?" she questioned as she moved closer, her concern quickly shifted from the Bull to the Lieutenant.

"Yeah," he replied but the pain he was in was evident in his voice, he couldn't hide it any longer. _The stitches must have all come out, it's the only reason why I'm in this much pain, surely?_ he pondered as he studied the inquisitive yet uneasy expression the Doctor looked at him with. Raising just one eyebrow at him, it became clear that she didn't believe him at all.

"Let me take a look, I might be able to do something to stop it hurting so much," she said as she reached over to take hold of his trouser leg, but he quickly shook his head as he gently pushed her hand away.

"I'm good," he insisted, but she just sat back and sighed. He couldn't read her expression at all while he remained silent and tried to display the same clandestine appearance she had. Silence lingered between the two as their eyes didn't move from the others. "I am fine," he reiterated flatly, causing her to exhale in frustration as she looked down and shook her head.

"Fine," she muttered and slowly rose to her feet, wiping her dirty hands down her thighs in the process. _It's only natural for her to want to take a look, she's a Doctor after all, _he mused as he watched her turn around and run one of her hands through her knotted hair as she placed her other hand on her hip. She glanced around and then turned back to him.

"They're coming to us, you can sit down Sweetheart," Horatio said warmly as he looked up at her, all he wanted to do was sit and rest his leg for as long as he could. He also just wanted her to sit and rest to as it was clear she was on her last legs. Her eyes softened as she tilted her head to the side before she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I don't know about you, but I don't feel comfortable sitting just on the other side of a flimsy fence to that Bull… or that body for that matter," she replied before she turned back around and looked to her left and right on the trail that ran alongside the farm land. "Can you walk?" she asked as she turned back to him and then crouched beside him as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, but you can't," Horatio replied as he looked her in the eye and crooked his head to the right. _She just wants to get away from the farm, I think, I can't blame her… first she sees a body, then we get charged at by a Bull, I think she just wants to get home and after what she's been through, I really can't blame her!_ he mused as he watched her stand up again.

"Are you coming or not? I think your colleague went through this yard," she said as she turned back to the low wooden fence that led onto the large yard of a house. It was clear to him that she was begging to find an escape, to run away from everything life had thrown at her the past few days. "We can meet them half way, they should come back through here," she added as she looked back to him and studied him as he slowly rose to his feet. He could hear the weakness in her voice, he knew she wanted to take control, but she didn't believe she had the strength.

Inclining his head to the right, his eyes softened while he watched her look around frantically, desperately wanting to get away. He knew that staying where they were would only cause her more stress, so decided that moving away from their surroundings would help alleviate some of her anxiety. Trudging over to the low fence with her, he gave her a comforting smile, hoping to ease her distress. Once both of them had made it over the fence, they'd begun to head through the tidy backyard they'd entered.

Horatio glanced to the Doctor to see that her body language was telling him that she was closed off again. _She seems to be switching from wanting to take the lead to wanting to follow my lead, she wants to take the lead; I can see she wants to have control, but something is stopping her, maybe it's just her exhaustion? _he thought as he looked back to where they were walking. _This is a very large backyard, probably a large house too, I think we may have entered the wealthy housing estate,_ he thought as they saw a large huddle of bushes in the middle of the yard, blocking their view of the rest of the yard and the house. As they walked around the bushes, they came to a clearing but saw a giant man-made pond in the middle. Frowning, Horatio looked around to find a clear way past the pond but there didn't seem to be a way; either side of the large body of water were dense clusters of bushes that seemed to be in the process of being cut down.

"How did your colleague get through here?" Rebecca asked him as they slowly approached the water. _That is a good question, he must've waded through; he couldn't have gone through those bushes, they're covered in thick thorns. I'm certain he came through this yard, I watched him,_ he thought as they stopped at the edge and looked at it. _We'll go around the edge, it can't be too deep,_ he decided as he glanced back up to the Doctor who'd taken a few steps back and glared at the water anxiously.

"It's shallow around the edge, so we'll walk through there," he explained softly as he turned to her fully to observe her growing apprehension. She didn't move, she just swallowed and stayed silent. "Rebecca?" he asked quietly as he stepped towards her and then placed his hand on one of her shoulders.

Her eyes slowly wandered back to his as she opened her mouth to speak. "There's fish in there," she whispered before she took another step back.

Initially, he was somewhat confused, but then began to smile mildly as he crooked his head to the right. "Yes… ponds generally have fish in…" he replied sarcastically in an effort of lightening her unease, but she just gawked at him with trepidation swarming the air around her.

Swallowing, she pressed her lips together and eyed the pond up as if one of the fish were going to jump out and attack. _"_I… I'm scared of fish," she mouthed silently as she eyed the pond up as if she was waiting for a fish to jump out and attack. _She's actually scared of fish, _he realised. She slowly looked back to him and waited for the inevitable laugh to come from him, but he just raised his eyebrows and seemed a little surprised.

"You can laugh… others do; my phobia is completely irrational which is laughable… I'd laugh about it if I wasn't so scared of them," she shrugged as she looked down to the freshly mown grass and clasped her hands together. He noticed she was becoming more uncomfortable as she'd started to rub her left arm with her right hand as a way of comforting herself while she pressed her lips together.

"Okay Sweetheart… we can either go back, or we can go through the water; we can't just sit down in someone's yard, it's your choice," he replied as he placed a hand delicately on her shoulder and lowered his head further to try and gain eye contact with her. Sighing as she looked back up to him, she then looked back to the pond. _What a choice I'm giving her, go back to where there's a body and a Bull, or walk through a pond full of fish,_ he thought as it watched her think about it hard.

"But look at the fish, they're massive!" she murmured as she quickly looked away and shuddered. "There's no way I'm going near them," she added as she shook her head and then crossed her arms. _What else can I suggest? _Horatio pondered as he placed his hands on his hips and tapped at his belt.

"What if we walk through the pond together, you can walk on my right so you're in the shallowest part; the fish won't be near you as they'll swim away from us," he proposed as he inclined his head again with a reassuring appearance about him. He could see her thinking, but about what he didn't know. _She's looking for an excuse,_ he realised as he studied the look of intense concentration on her face. He then saw her gaze drift over to his right leg before she stood up straight and looked him in the eye.

"How bad is your leg? Is it a deep laceration?" she quizzed him as she lowered her eyebrows to narrow her slightly blurred vision on his expression to judge his response. It was clear that he was more confused than anything. _Why's she asking about my leg now? _he asked himself as he moved on his feet a little to have his shoulder pointing towards her while he thought about his answer, if he was going to answer at all.

_"_I only ask because if it's bad… well, if your skin is broken then you can't walk through that water, you'll more than likely get an infection…" she said as she looked up at him with a sweet but smug expression as she knew that anyone in their right mind wouldn't risk getting an infection._ Ah, it's an excuse, _he realised as he glanced over to the pond himself and studied the green looking water.

"And if it's really deep, like down to the bone deep then you could get a bone infection that could lead to an amputation if its serious enough. Do you realise just how many pathogens are in that water?" she added as she tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, hoping he'd agree with her. Glancing back at her he raised his eyebrows at her before he turned back to the pond and walked down to the edge of the water to try and determine how deep the water went and whether it was deep enough to reach the wounds on his leg. She watched him scrutinise the water and knew exactly what he was doing.

"Be careful…" she warned quietly as she raised her right hand to her lips and began to fiddle with them nervously. _It might be shallow enough around the edge, but she is right, an infection is likely and those wounds are deep,_ he thought to himself as he placed both hands on his hips and thought about it carefully. _We'll have to wait here… why anyone would build a pond in the middle of their garden with no way around is a bit stupid, surely? I guess they're still in the middle of construction by the looks of it though,_ he thought as he peered around and saw a few building materials. _I can't risk it. How are the residents who own the property supposed to reach the end of their yard? Perhaps they've just moved in, they could be remodelling?_ he mused as he looked to his right and then his left at the dense shrubs before he turned on his heel to face the Doctor.

"We'll head back to the path by the farmland then; we can't stay here," he said genially as he looked towards her. She looked vaguely relieved by his suggestion, however she didn't seem too thrilled, but what else could they do? It was the best and only option they really had. _I don't really want to chance it anyway, I'd much rather go back and I think she does too,_ he thought as he glanced back to the pond while he took a step towards the Doctor. All of a sudden, the damp mud beneath his foot loosened. Watching the Lieutenant slip, her eyes widened as she gasped and raised her hands to her mouth in disbelief. She quickly reached out to him but it was too late, he was out of her reach. With a sizable splash, he tumbled into the murky water.

"Horatio!" she shouted as she darted forwards and slipped on the muddy grass herself, but luckily for her, she stopped just before the water. The Lieutenant surfaced with a few gasps of air while he splashed his arms around in a slight panic. Once he'd taken a few deep breaths he swept his fringe from his eyes and looked towards the Doctor who was stretching her hand out towards him.

She stayed as far from the water as she could, but tried to reach him. "Come on," she encouraged as she focussed on him and not the fish swimming around just meters from her. He began to swim towards her but could feel his leg severely stinging with each kick. _This is deceptively deep,_ he thought when he couldn't reach the bottom.

Gritting his teeth as a groan escaped his throat, he felt a cramp spread through his calf, rendering his whole leg useless. Rebecca had noticed something was wrong and had a good idea of what the problem was. She watched him thrash his arms about in a desperate effort to keep himself afloat.

"Lieutenant, grab my hand!" Rebecca pleaded as she tried to edge her way closer to the pond but could feel herself beginning to panic. With the feeling of her heart pounding in her chest, she saw the fear in his eyes, the fear of drowning. "Horatio!" she shouted again as she pushed herself closer towards the water but simply couldn't edge any closer as the frantic fish dashing about were at the front of her mind.

He began to sink to just below the surface where his left foot touched the bottom of the pond. Pushing off the base of the pond, he gasped for air again once he'd surfaced. He could feel his heart hammering forcefully while sheer shock and horror flooded his thoughts. He tried his very best to reach out to her, but he was too far away and couldn't swim. She saw the hope slowly seeping through his eyes as he began to accept his ultimate fate. She knew what she had to do as Horatio went under again and pushed off the bottom of the pond, but she couldn't make herself jump in to save him. She never realised just how acute her phobia was, but now she realised that it was so bad that even watching someone drown in front of her couldn't make her face her fears.

Surfacing again, he spat out the mouthful of water and groaned in pain again. Going under once more, he could feel an overwhelming sense to surrender to his untimely demise; he knew she couldn't make herself jump in, he didn't blame her though, he never could blame anyone else but himself for the merciless situations he found himself in so often. Due to lack of oxygen, his body weakened considerably to the point of being unable to push back off the bottom of the pond. For once, he needed someone to save his life.


	20. Chapter 20

Suddenly, he felt two arms around his chest as he began to surface again, but not through his own strength, he could feel someone pulling him up. Choking on the water that spewed out of his mouth, he just allowed whoever had hold of him to keep him afloat. With a large gasp of air, his energy began to return once oxygen was being supplied to his muscles once more. He could still feel that his calf muscle had tightened as hard as a rock, rendering the whole leg useless. Feeling his heart beating forcefully with adrenaline gushing through his bloodstream, he panicked and began to splash his hands and arms about in the water, hoping it would help. However, all he was doing was making it harder for his rescuer to pull him out and dragging her down with him, but he didn't realise this in his panic.

"Deep breaths, try and calm yourself down," Rebecca shrieked, trying to keep herself calm and both of them afloat while she felt every atom in her body quiver in terror. Strangely, he began to calm having heard her voice, even though she was anything but calm herself. He relaxed his head back on her shoulder and stopped thrashing around in the water; the feeling of tranquillity coated him as he looked up at the clear blue sky. He could feel the water gliding around his body while the small Doctor pulled him towards the edge. For the first few seconds, his thoughts had muted, his body felt numb. Blinking slowly, he felt as if he were having an outer body experience.

Slowly, his thoughts began to chatter again. _She actually saved me? Or am I drowning right now and hallucinating?_ he thought while the bleakness of his mind began to alter to a more cheery disposition. _She did actually save me,_ he realised as he watched a flock of birds fly high in the sky. _She's terrified, but she saved me,_ he mused when he could hear and feel her hyperventilating. Her quick breaths travelled over his cheek while her chest expanded and contracted rapidly against his back. _I can't be alive, can I?_ he wondered as he felt so at ease, which was rare for him.

"Stay with me Lieutenant," she called loudly as she raised one of her hands to his neck to take his pulse just as they reached the side of the pond; she'd begun to worry more as he'd completely relaxed, indicating to her that he'd lost consciousness. Having felt his strong, steady pulse, she felt marginally better about the situation but was still petrified of the fish. Holding back the sharp shrill that wanted to escape her lungs, she tightened her grip on the Lieutenant when she felt what she thought was a fish swim against her ankle. She soon realised that it was not a fish, but it was Horatio's leg moving against hers in the water. She knew she never wanted to do anything of the sort again, but felt slightly empowered that she'd faced one of her biggest fears. With the feeling of relief grow as she neared the side, she took a moment to work out the best way to get him out.

Due to the pond being man-made, the sides were covered with slippery tarpaulin, which made her job of getting both herself and a dazed man, nearly twice her size out a lot harder. His thoughts had hushed once more while he just stared up at the peaceful skies blankly.

"Lieutenant, I need you to hold onto the side for me," she commanded as she turned him and gently pushed him against the side. Breathing heavily, he reached out and grabbed two fistfuls of the grass while the Doctor slowly hauled herself out of the pond as quickly as her muscles would allow her. Holding on as he gritted his teeth again, he could feel the cramp in his calf loosening. He felt her grab his wrists as she tried to pull him out but he was too heavy for her and they got nowhere. With her adrenaline running low again, she could feel her muscles weakening so she knew she had to get him out fast, while she still had a small amount of energy.

"Come on," she tried encouraging as he began to try and get out himself when his thoughts had started nattering away again. Letting go of his wrists, she leant forwards and grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt by his shoulders. Together, they managed to get him out of the water and up onto the grass. Exhaling a heavy sigh of relief, the Lieutenant laid on his back for a moment, reflecting on what had happened. _It seems my life is flashing before my eyes more frequently these days,_ he mused just as the Doctor laid on the grass beside him, weakly as she closed her eyes. Her body had completely given up on her, even breathing felt like a punishing struggle.

"Alright?" she murmured as she opened her eyes and looked at him just as he began to cough a lot more roughly. Slowly sitting up, she turned to him and then moved closer when she began to worry more about him; he didn't look well at all, not just physically, but he mentally looked very troubled. Continuing to just lay on the floor, he stared impassively up at the sky in shock with his mouth slightly open to allow for easy, deep breathing.

"Lieutenant, can you hear me?" she questioned loudly and clearly as she placed one hand against his cheek and looked into his blue eyes with a distressed frown. He didn't reply instead he just maintained his vacant expression. She'd noticed that his pupils had dilated, indicating that he'd been frightened, who wouldn't have been in that situation? She knew she would have nearly had a heart attack if she was that close to drowning.

"Lieutenant?" she blared to get his attention while she gently shook his shoulder. Startled, he was dragged from his thoughts and looked over to her with wide eyes. He swiftly examined her expression before settling on her light blue eyes to see just how afraid she was.

"Yeah… I'm good," he replied as he took a deep breath. She planted her hands on his chest to feel for equal expansion on both sides when her automatic response to diagnose his current condition over took. Happy with what she was feeling, she removed her hands and then took hold of his wrist.

"Did you swallow much water?" she questioned as she counted his pulse, which had calmed down considerably while he just looked up at her and blinked. _I'm alive… I'm actually alive,_ he thought to himself as he took another deep breath. He could still feel his heart beating forcefully, but it was nowhere near the speed it was when he was panicking.

"I didn't… I didn't swallow any, it was just... you know," he murmured as he began to sit up as he raised his hands to his face to get rid of the excess water. _I don't think I've ever been so close to drowning before, I don't think I've ever believed that it would be my last day as much as I did,_ he swallowed as he opened his eyes again and looked to the Doctor who was already examining him with her tender, yet uneasy eyes.

"You're safe, Lieutenant," she soothed as she gently took hold of his head and moved closer to him to check out the gash on the side of his forehead. He allowed her to inspect the wound but then gently pushed her away once he felt she had enough time to look at it.

"I'm good," he said quietly, but firmly before he coughed. Looking down as he covered his mouth, he felt slightly nauseated, which was only made worse by his coughing. Rebecca sat back on her knees and allowed him some personal space as she'd mistaken the pride in his voice for agitation. She slowly moved towards his legs, causing Horatio to look up at her; he knew what she was going to do.

"I'm looking at your leg, whether you like it or not. I need to see how bad it is. If it's bad, you'll have to go to hospital and you'll probably be given antibiotics," she explained as she pulled his wet trouser leg up to see a large, sodden bandage wrapped around the entire lower part of his leg. His pride, perhaps a hint of arrogance made an appearance as he shook his head at her. The thought of her finding out about how serious his injury was, was almost unnerving to him; he didn't even know how bad his wound had become, so didn't want anyone else looking at it before him.

"No, it's okay," he insisted as he placed his hand over hers and tried to push his trouser leg back down. She removed her hands and raised them in submission; the last thing she wanted to do was argue. She knew he'd be looked at properly when he got to the hospital, she knew she was going to make him go to the hospital if he refused; that was something she wouldn't back down on. He looked back down to his leg and then slowly and carefully rolled his trouser leg back down to hide the bandage. Exhaling heavily but slowly, Rebecca raised a hand to her head before she slumped back down to sitting rather than kneeling. Horatio hadn't noticed her sudden fatigue due to being so focussed on his leg while the Doctor was still thinking about him, more than she was thinking about herself.

"How are you feeling in yourself? Because you might have inhaled water, which is very dangerous and more so because of the thousands of pathogens in that water…" she slurred slightly as she blinked a few times, feeling lightheaded. She placed her hand on the grass and propped herself up while she looked at him. Once and for all, her exhaustion, injuries and sleep deprivation had caught up with her, there was no way she could come back from the stage she'd entered without medical intervention. Detecting the weariness in her voice, he looked back to her to realise how downhill her condition had dropped. Suddenly, his thoughts were not about himself as he studied her half-open eyes and her intensifying trembling.

"Rebecca?" Horatio questioned as he reached out and took hold of her shoulders to help support her. She managed to open her eyes enough for him to know that she was still aware of what was going on mentally, but her body had just given up completely. With his concern rising again he began to slowly help her to lay down on the ground.

"It's okay Sweetheart, just lie down and relax. You're safe, we're going to get you some help," he soothed as he took hold of one of her hands and looked down into her eyes caringly. _What's wrong? Is there something else going on or is this just how much she can take? _he wondered, but could still see that she was more concerned about him.

"Don't you worry about me, okay? I'm fine, I do feel fine," he assured her as he placed one hand under her head in hope of making her more comfortable. It was just in his nature to make those around him as comfortable as possible, even if it meant causing himself some discomfort.

"Lieutenant…" she murmured quietly as she looked up at him.

"Yes?" he asked as he leant over more to look into her eyes, only to realise that she seemed pleasantly amused with something, rather than feeling sorry for herself. Feeling somewhat confused, he waited for her reply to see what she was thinking about.

"I think I might need that ambulance after all…" she quietly said as a modest smile began to tug at the corners of her lips while her shivering exacerbated further due to the chill from the sodden clothes and cool breeze that had started to waft. He knew she was slightly amused by it because she'd so adamantly refused it beforehand.

"That's good… because there should be one already waiting…" Horatio replied with a hidden smile beginning to pull at his lips while he pulled his large jacket tighter around her to try and keep her a little warmer. _That's not going to do anything, she needs dry clothes,_ he thought to himself as he felt a chill shoot up his spine too when a gust of wind blew past him, cooling him down. With the chill of the strong wind biting at his skin, he realised that she must be unimaginably cold. However, she managed to comically frown at him, furrowing her brow with a slightly larger smile.

"You're unbelievable," she muttered gladly before they heard a few loud voices in the distance which had their hopes for rescue soring high in the sky. He smiled down at her warmly before he looked up and in the direction of the voices.

Relief flooded the Lieutenants body as he saw Eric hurrying towards them with 3 fire & rescue officers on his tail. "Help is here," Horatio murmured buoyantly as he slowly started to clamber to his feet. He quickly sat back down again when his leg caused him too much trouble and looked back to the Doctor.

"Rebecca, Sweetheart?" Horatio asked warmly when he realised she was staring off into the distance, as if she was looking a hundred miles away. She quickly snapped out of it once he'd placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to glance up to him with her thoughts in tangles, looking slightly surprised and unsettled.

"H, why are you here? Where's the body?" the CSI questioned as the 4 men came to a halt.

"There's a very angry Bull in that farmland and we had to get out… the body is where you left us, about 75 yards in from the fence. The rest is a very long story," he muttered as he placed his right hand over the back of his right lower leg when he felt the muscle harden. Eric quickly radioed for animal control to come out to take care of the Bull while Horatio turned back to the Doctor and placed a hand over hers.

"Sorry it took so long H, I had to pass through this yard and then get the owner of the house to let me out of the front gate. Ryan and Walter will be here as soon as their done at the airport, Alexx is on her way and Calleigh and I will head out to the farm when animal control have the animal under control," Eric informed his boss as he held his hand out to help him up. Gratefully taking his colleagues hand, the Lieutenant slowly stood and then reached down to Rebecca to help her up with the aid of one of the fire officers.

She slumped against the officer that had helped her up as she simply couldn't stand under her own strength any longer. Horatio shifted his weight back onto his left leg to relax his calf muscle as he placed one hand on Rebecca's upper arm while the officer held her up. It was very clear to all of them that the Doctor was not at all feeling well, but also that Horatio wasn't too well himself either.

"This is Rebecca Henderson, she's not feeling too well at all. Is there an Ambulance waiting?" Horatio inquired as he looked at all 4 men who nodded at him while he tried to support her a little more. He looked back to her as she exhaled heavily again and closed her eyes, almost falling asleep standing up and against the fire officer.

"The Ambulance should be there, I radioed for it before I came back," Eric explained to which Horatio nodded thankfully at him while he and the officer gently nudged Rebecca awake. _All she wants to do is sleep,_ he thought, beginning to feel guilty for keeping her awake.

"I'm not too bad," she insisted as she began to try and stand under her own strength. Raising his eyebrows, the Lieutenant looked towards her and crooked his head to the right. "I'm just quite fatigued, that's all," she added when his gentle influence pressed her for the truth. With another gust of strong wind, Horatio felt the chill nip his skin again before he was handed a thick blanket. Quickly turning to Rebecca, he wrapped her in it before she took hold of the fire officers arm once more when she realised she wasn't strong enough to stand alone.

"Thank you," she whispered with her teeth chattering. He quickly held his hand out for the other blanket that the other officer was holding. Once he had it, he unfolded it and moved towards Rebecca again but she shook her head at him.

"You have that one, you'll get a chill," she commanded quietly as she pulled the blanket she had around her tighter. He just looked at her for a few seconds, and realised she was being serious and so didn't want to argue with her, he was also beginning to shiver himself, despite the sweltering heat.

"Do you have any other injuries?" the man holding her up asked as he looked down to her.

Shaking her head, she looked up at him tiredly. "Just a bashed up face," she said quietly as she waved a hand in the direction of her bloody and bruised features and then looked towards the red-head. "He's injured his leg though and will need assistance as he can barely put weight on it," she muttered with a soft expression. Looking down to the floor, Horatio tried his best to shrug off the inquisitive eyes of the 4 men. _I should've seen that one coming, _he thought to himself as he glanced to the Doctor but quickly looked away again.

"Thank you, Rebecca," the CSI said gracefully as he sauntered over to his boss and reached out to take hold of his upper arm to offer support. Suddenly, Horatio's heartbeat had increased along with the feeling of agitation; he didn't want help, he didn't need help, or so he thought; it's how he had always thought.

"Eric, I'm good," he sharply warned as he raised a hand to stop his colleague from taking hold of his arm. His leg was feeling marginally better, but perhaps that was because he'd completely relaxed his muscle and didn't bare any weight on his right foot at all. Backing off, Eric raised his hands in submission to allow Horatio to do what he wanted.

* * *

"I'll radio control to see where that Ambulance is, they should be here already," Eric informed his superior when he passed the Hummer where Horatio had seated Rebecca in his passenger seat for the time being.

"I told you the Ambulance service is horrendously busy in this place… we could be waiting 30 minutes as we're not urgent…" she muttered as she sat back with a blanket wrapped around herself while Horatio leant against the inside of the open Hummer door with a blanket around himself too, but mostly to hide the fact that his shirt was nearly see-through rather than because he was cold.

"Rebecca, you do need to be checked over," Horatio replied smoothly as he crooked his head at her with his soft eyes scrutinising her tired face.

"I'm okay, I don't need urgent medical attention, I just need food and sleep," she replied as she rested her head back against the head-rest and allowed her heavy eyelids to half close.

"Maybe so, but you still require to be checked over, not only for physical injuries, but mentally too, you've been through a terrible ordeal," he breathed with tender eyes as he looked up at her. She exhaled and inclined her head at him while she raised her eyebrows, seemingly quite unimpressed with his constant pestering.

"Lieutenant, I can assure you that I'm not mentally disturbed by what's gone on," she sighed as she looked away from him and out of the front window, pressing her lips together as she exhaled through her nose, signalling her stress. Running a hand through his hair in frustration, Horatio looked down to her sodden sneakers that still had the remnants of her blood. _She's still unable to walk herself, I know that. She has to go to hospital, I think I might need to have my leg looked at as well. The last thing I need is an infection,_ he thought to himself as he pressed his lips together while he looked back up at her.

"Horatio, the all Ambulances are all held up as there's been a 6 vehicle incident on the highway involving a school bus, they're drafting in more as we speak," Calleigh informed her boss from standing by her Hummer about 20 yards away after she put her phone back in her pocket. _We'll be called out to that later, I suspect. Surely there should be some free Ambulances for other emergencies?_ he pondered to himself.

Glancing back, the Lieutenant nodded at his colleague before he looked back to Rebecca with a delicate appearance about him. He knew she was going to try and argue herself out of it so decided he was going to put the first word in. "You're going to the hospital and you are getting yourself checked out. You went in that pond too, you need any wounds cleaned and looked at," he told her flatly while he placed one hand upon his hip.

"You're getting yourself checked over too, aren't you?" she questioned as she looked down to his right leg again and saw that he was still reluctant to put weight on it. He nodded at her, but didn't give her a verbal response, telling her that he also wasn't happy with having to be checked over, but knew he needed it. She looked away and then pulled the blanket around her tighter.

"If you're cleared this afternoon and feeling up to it, would you be happy to come back to the station to give your statement?" he asked cautiously as he reached into the Hummer and picked his shades up from the dashboard and started to fiddle with them.

"Can't I just give it to you here? After the Hospital, I just want to go home to eat, shower and get some rest," she pleaded as she too tilted her head at him and set her imploring eyes on him.

"I'm afraid we don't work like that, it won't take too long, I promise," Horatio replied and she nodded as she looked down to her thighs with a long sigh.

"Sure," she breathed as she looked out of the front window to see Eric talking with Calleigh. "Do you know anything about Stephen… Paul… whoever he is yet? Have you arrested him?" she questioned before she looked back to Horatio, curiously, but he also saw her fear. _She's still scared of him, who could blame her? I still think he's done more than what she's telling me,_ he mused as he blinked a few times to study her.

"I've yet to hear anything, but before we arrived here, he was spotted and officers headed towards his location," Horatio replied and she nodded and then looked over to Calleigh as she approached the open door with a comforting smile.

"Hi, my name is Calleigh Duquesne, I work with Lieutenant Caine and CSI Delko, Eric's said that you've not eaten in days but couldn't eat what he had to offer. I've got a few snacks that are nut free, if you'd like?" Calleigh offered kindly with her natural wide smile.

"Please, if you don't mind," Rebecca replied sweetly and Calleigh smiled brightly as she produced two snack bars from her pocket and handed them to the hungry Doctor.

"I've checked to see if they have nuts, but obviously you're welcome to double check. I hope that's okay, it's all I have on me," Calleigh said as Rebecca smiled at her warmly and then very quickly checked the wrappers.

"Thank you, this is great," Rebecca replied kind-heartedly, it was clear that she really appreciated it.

"No problem, I'm just sorry I don't have more," Calleigh replied and Rebecca smiled at her again before the CSI turned to her boss.

"May I have a word, Horatio?" she questioned with the southern accent easily rolling off her tongue. He gave her a nod and then looked back to Rebecca.

"I'll be back soon," Horatio assured her and she nodded and watched them walk away before she quickly unwrapped the wrapper and consumed the bar hungrily once Calleigh had Horatio's attention. She quickly demolished the second bar, but her stomach ached for more. _I don't think I've ever been so hungry in my life, I think I felt better when I hadn't eaten. _Rebecca thought to herself as she placed a hand over her grouchy stomach. She stuffed both wrappers in her pocket and looked back over to Horatio, who'd began to make his way back towards her.

"Paul has been arrested, he was caught attempting to flee the country," Horatio informed her as he leant back against the Hummer door just as a couple of Police vehicles arrived, including Frank.

"Thank God," Rebecca breathed as she raised one hand to her matted hair and sighed with relief.

"Feeling better?" Horatio questioned and she nodded appreciatively as she glanced back when she heard another patrol vehicle pull up. Looking back himself, the Lieutenant saw Frank getting out of his car. "Okay, I'm going to go and talk with my colleague, and if the Ambulance isn't here by the time we're finished, we're making our own way to the hospital, okay?" he asked gently as he crooked his head to the right. She silently nodded at him as she pressed her lips together.

Slipping his shades on, he limped over to his colleague and felt the full wrath of the late afternoon sun once he stepped into the heat from the blissful shade behind the Hummer. _I'll have to take this blanket off soon, it's too hot, my shirt should dry quickly,_ he mused.

Planting his hands firmly on his hips, Frank turned to the Lieutenant while he stood close to his vehicle. As he hobbled over to the Detective Sergeant, Horatio inwardly groaned as he felt another ripping sensation in his calf.

"Taken a swim, H?" Frank chuckled while he looked his dripping wet colleague up and down.

"I needed to cool down, so I took a leisurely swim," he wittily replied before he looked to the ground by his feet. He could feel himself becoming more at ease now his good friend and colleague was now by his side and because he knew that Rebecca was out of immediate danger. Hiding his smile, he quickly wiped a bead of pond water rolling down his forehead from his wet hair as he continued to look to the floor, awaiting a reply from Frank.

"It's times like that where I'm glad I don't have hair," he grinned as he ran a hand over his bald head, causing the Lieutenant to look back up to him with a smile.

"Hmm," he hummed feeling somewhat amused by his colleague before he gripped the blanket around him once more and pulled it tighter to hide the wet, see-through shirt as much as possible. "Frank, what have we got on Paul?" he quizzed with his mind quickly switching back to work-mode after he glanced back to make sure Rebecca was fine. _She is looking better now that she's had something to eat,_ he noticed as he turned back to his colleague who'd placed both hands on his hips, ready to feed the probing, red-headed man the information he so desired.

"We caught him trying to flee the airport once he realised he couldn't board any of the planes, he then attacked one of our officers which put our officer in hospital. Once we got him back, he refused to talk. I have a feeling he's been taking something, it could be some sort of stimulant," he replied as he looked his colleague up and down once more before he noticed how Horatio was standing – with no weight on his right leg. "H, you should probably get that leg seen to, I know a 'gator took a chunk out of it… hell, the whole crime division knows," Frank added as he frowned at the Lieutenant.

"Just leave Paul to me, I'm going to get myself sorted along with Rebecca," he agreed as he looked back down again, almost as if it physically hurt to admit that he was getting help too. _They'll all be talking about it, _he thought while he tapped at his belt with two fingers.

"Sure," the Detective Sergeant nodded before he turned back to his vehicle as he knew that was the end of their conversation. Pivoting on his left heel, Horatio spun around to head towards Rebecca.

"Frank, find out where that Ambulance is, please?" Horatio called back to his colleague while he continued to limp towards the Hummer. Once he reached it, he leant against the door and took all weight off his right leg, then looked up to the Doctor.

"How are you feeling, Sweetheart?" Horatio asked delicately with a tender expression as he pulled the blanket from himself and held it out in front.

"About the same as you asked me last time…" she replied sarcastically with a teeny smile pulling at her lips. _I think she's starting to relax now,_ he mused as he allowed a smile to grow while he nodded at her.

"H, the Ambulance is still held up, they said it could take up to 20 minutes as this isn't an urgent call," Frank informed his colleague from his vehicle. Turning to the Texan, Horatio nodded at him appreciatively. _We'll get there ourselves then, what if she were a real emergency I doubt we'd have to wait,_ he thought.

"Cancel it, Frank," he commanded before he turned back to the Hummer.

"Okay, we're going to head over to the hospital ourselves then, is that okay?" Horatio questioned the Doctor warmly as he inclined his head to the right. Silently she nodded as he took his sunglasses off to make eye contact with her once more. "It's just a check over, okay? You're a Doctor, you know what to expect," he tried to soothe her when he saw her growing anxiety build.

"Yes, but potentially having a colleague treat me, or even see me in this state is not a nice thought," she replied as she glowered at him. "But I know it has to be done, so you won't get an argument from me…" she sulked quietly as she pulled the blanket around her tighter and reduced her glare to a placid expression while Eric sauntered over to them.

"Why are you cancelling the Ambulance?" the CSI questioned as he stopped beside Horatio and frowned deeply, looking at both he and Rebecca.

"We're making our own way there as the Ambulance is still held up," Horatio explained smoothly as he stepped back and looked to his colleague who nodded at him. _He's going to offer to drive,_ he anticipated, once again feeling slightly enraged by his colleagues belittling behaviour, or that's what he viewed Eric's general concern as.

"I'll drive," the CSI offered as he held his hand out for the keys to his superior's Hummer. Horatio knew it wasn't an offer, but more of an order which kicked started his typical stubbornness.

"I can drive, Eric," he insisted as he scowled at his colleague, warning him that he was stepping on thin ice. Quickly withdrawing his hand, he wasn't sure what he should do. _He can't drive, why can't he accept even a small amount of assistance to get him to a hospital? I will never understand him, _Eric thought to himself as he swallowed; arguing with his boss was the last thing he wanted to do, but allowing him to drive in his condition was also not an option in his mind. _I do wish he wasn't so obstinate at times, sure that's what makes him who he is, but he's got to allow for things like this?_ the CSI wondered while he had a stare off with his headstrong boss.

_Why can't he accept that I'm fine?_ Horatio questioned himself while he positioned both hands on his hips.

"Are you sure of that? Because you nearly drowned…" Rebecca chimed in boldly while she sat up straight and looked at him, backing the younger man up. Slightly surprised with her audacity, he slowly turned his head to look at her. _I think she is starting to really relax, _he mused as he studied her hard expression. Unable to continue with his stiff appearance he'd used with Eric, he softened his eyes significantly as he exhaled his pent up frustration away.

"Rebecca, I can assure you that I'm fine," he reiterated calmly as he tilted his head to the right and held tender eye contact. She looked into his gentle, puppy-dog eyes but frowned more as she knew he was trying to pull wool over her eyes.

"Well, I'm not letting you drive anywhere until I check that leg out for myself. You'll end up in an accident if it's bad enough," she replied flatly as she raised her eyebrows at him. _It is not bad enough to stop me driving, don't they understand this?_ he questioned himself feeling a little irritated. Exhaling a large sigh, the Lieutenant looked down; he felt wedged between two hard places and wasn't sure what to do to get out of the situation. "I'm a Doctor, I know you're injured so I have a duty to make sure you're okay and that you're not a danger to yourself or others by driving, you either let me check your leg or we wait for that Ambulance, it's entirely your choice," she said as she sat back and shrugged at him. He knew they were his only options, but his tenacious manner was still nibbling at him. His eyes connected with hers again for roughly 30 seconds before he finally agreed and nodded at her. _Is she even able to give a professional judgement in her condition?_ he wondered while both she and Eric looked somewhat pleased with his unexpected compliance.

"Do you have a first aid box with gloves?" she asked as she looked from the slightly fatigued blue-eyed man to the concerned CSI who nodded at her.

"I'll get you one," Eric replied quickly before he walked around to the back of the Hummer. He could feel Horatio's eyes boring a dark hole into his back but knew that he needed to be checked over so ignored the ominous feeling.

"You shouldn't be looking me over," the Lieutenant grumbled at her as he stepped closer to her again and looked up at her, sceptical of her mental capabilities.

"Well, it's that or we wait for an Ambulance, it's your choice," she reiterated as she raised her brows at him. She knew exactly what option he'd choose, so felt confident in herself. Sighing, he nodded again before she began to climb out of the Hummer slowly.

"What are you doing?" he questioned her just as Eric strolled back to them with a first aid kit in hand. She stood on the ground and looked up at him as she cocked her head to the side.

"You need to sit in that seat so I can look at your leg," she explained as she gestured to the seat she was sat in and then leant against the door as he stood up under his own weight. "Unless of course you're able to raise your foot higher than your head, which I highly doubt…" she added caustically as she hid a smile from him.

"You can't even stand up, Rebecca," he argued at he looked back to her with a serious facial expression. _She literally can't stand or keep her eyes open fully, she's so mulish, why doesn't she help herself? _he thought_._

"Just sit down, are you always this stubborn?" she question as she crumpled her brow and planted a hand on her hip. _Me… stubborn?_ he disbelieved as he just stared at her blankly, unwilling to answer or react to her rhetorical question. Eric stood behind the quarrelling pair and concealed a contented grin; he was just happy that someone was arguing with the man that almost no-one but criminals dared argue with. The CSI knew it was for his bosses own good.

"Fine, get in the back and I'll sit down too," she sighed as she gestured to the back door when he didn't budge or make a sound. He slowly got into the back and then shuffled down as Rebecca took the first aid kit from Eric and then got in after him. Glancing back to him, the Doctor silently told Eric to give them privacy while she pulled the latex gloves on. Once alone with the Lieutenant, she quickly inspected the wound to find that it was still stitched up, but could see that it needed opening and cleaning out again. _What in the World did that? I'm not really surprised he's in agony. He caught himself on something? That's gotta' be a lie, surely?_ _It has to be something, a chainsaw? No, it's too clean a cut to be a chainsaw… an axe maybe? A blunt knife? _she thought to herself, trying to work it out.

"That's going to need to be cleaned out thoroughly, it'll probably have to be re-stitched, but I can't see why it's causing you so much pain. Are you taking any painkillers? They would have given you some; they will certainly help," she questioned him as she looked up at him while she bandaged the wound with clean, dry bandages. Remaining silent, he answered her question about the painkillers for her, he hadn't even touched them. Pulling his trouser leg down and then snapping her gloves off, she sighed heavily.

"You're an idiot in that case; the Doctor will have told you to take painkillers; they know what they're talking about, you should follow their orders. I know you're a man and more or less, you all always do the same thing, but for once swallow your pride and ego and listen to a Doctor," she muttered as she put everything away and then slowly got out without giving him a second look. _She's annoyed with me now? I guess I did land myself in that one. I don't need the painkillers though, I'm fine,_ he thought to himself as he started to shuffle towards the open door and got out to stand next to Rebecca after she placed the gloves and first aid kit on the seat.

"You can drive as long as you drive slowly and take your painkillers now, unless their heavy duty ones in which case you can't drive either way," she informed him as she leant on the car door to support her weak body and noticed his tension.

"I'll make sure you swallow your own medicine, Doctor," Horatio muttered thoughtlessly before he froze and realised what he'd said. His jaw slacked as he turned to face the Doctor who'd begun to smile at him.

"You see, that's the pain making you irritable… take those painkillers now," she instructed before she exhaled forcefully and glanced back when she heard a couple of officers talking loudly. Horatio trudged around to the driver's side of the vehicle and picked up a packet of tablets to take them. Once he'd taken them, he walked back around to Rebecca and stood to her left while she looked at the patrol officers conversing.

"Taken them?" she questioned distractedly. He remained silent but nodded at her. "Are they strong ones?" she quizzed, becoming exasperated due to total exhaustion and the relentless pain radiating through her body.

"No, I'm allowed to drive on these ones," he replied while he tried to soften tone of voice as his familiar compassionate personality began to take over. "I know you're tired, but try and relax, you'll be home as soon as possible," he soothed as he reached out and placed a hand on her upper arm, startling her. She quickly looked back to him with wide eyes and moved away. _She's becoming restless and jumpy, she definitely needs to get to the hospital soon,_ he thought to himself while he studied her spooked expression. She reassured herself that she wasn't in danger as she began to fiddle with her fingers and nodded at him.

"Okay Sweetheart, I will meet you at the hospital, two of the officers will drive you, I'll introduce you," he said as he graciously gestured over to a patrol vehicle.

She immediately stiffened as trepidation struck her. "Um, I'll make my own way to the hospital," she murmured quietly as she pulled the blanket from her shoulders and folded it. Frowning at her as she placed the blanket on the passenger seat, he began to fiddle with his shades again.

"I don't see your car around," he replied, tilting his head as he gave her a bit of personal space as it was clear she needed it. _Why's her behaviour suddenly changed? Is she going into shock? Is she already in shock?_ _Is she getting worse? _he wondered while he watched her rub her left forearm with her right hand as a way of subconsciously comforting herself.

"No, but I do have legs," she politely answered as she took a step away from him and then looked back to the patrol officers talking to each other by their car. _Is she scared of something? Is she thinking straight? She can't be serious, can she? She can barely stand up,_ he pondered while he frowned, almost in disbelief.

"The hospital is 10 miles away, Rebecca…" he informed her as he raised his eyebrows, beginning to really doubt her mental abilities in her weakened and debilitated state. He placed the blanket he was holding down on hers and then looked back to her with a comforting appearance.

"It's good exercise," she replied quietly before she looked down to the floor and folded her arms.

"Rebecca, we'll take you. You cannot walk anywhere," he urged and then watched her look back over to the police car that was parked behind Frank's car.

"There's no need Lieutenant, I'm good, I'll make my own way," she looked back to him with anxiety radiating through her voice and posture. Noticing that she was eyeing up the patrol car and officers nervously, he stepped in front of her to block her line of sight while he slid his fingers up and down the metal frame of his shades. He tilted his head and gained eye contact with her when she looked up at him. _What's going on?_ he mused again, he couldn't feel more confused even if he'd tried.

"Is everything alright, Rebecca?" he questioned warmly as he lowered his head to get a better look into her eyes while she swallowed and tried to look away. She nodded at him, but it was clear that something was striking fear into her heart.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your amazing patience! I'm sorry it's taken so long to update, but I've been incredibly busy. I hope to update at least once a week from now on, but there may be times where that isn't possible due a busy schedule.  
I hope you're all really enjoying the story! Have a wonderful day! **


	21. Chapter 21

_What's wrong with her? She's got nothing to hide, there's no one here but the emergency services,_ Horatio thought as he glanced back to the vehicle as two officers slammed the doors closed which made Rebecca jump, then gasp for air and reach out for Horatio, alerting him. Immediately turning back to her, he positioned his hands on her upper arms while she held his forearms and trembled excessively. Where she had the tightest grip her muscles would allow, he could feel her fingertips and nails beginning to embed themselves into his biceps, unintentionally. Supporting her fully, he studied her in her petrified state.

"Sit down, Sweetheart," he urged tenderly as he gently pushed her back while continuing to support her. Smoothly seating her on the foot-step of the large Hummer, he slowly crouched and looked up at her downcast eyes. "Slow your breathing down, take slow deep breaths," he encouraged while he watched her gasp for air rapidly as if someone were choking her. She was just stared at the ground as she panicked; she'd not even heard what Horatio had said to her.

"Rebecca, slow your breathing down," he repeated warmly as he moved one hand towards her face to try and lift her head. As soon as his hand made contact with her cheek she gasped again and quickly withdrew from his touch, looking at him with wide, teary eyes. He quickly placed his hand back on her upper arm as her eyes flitted around his placid expression.

"Rebecca, it's Horatio Caine, you're safe. Just try and calm your breathing down for me please," he soothed as he inclined his head to the right and maintained his serene temperament. Gradually, she began to calm herself as she nodded at him after he placed one of his hands over both of hers in her lap. _Yeah, she definitely needs to be looked at closely; I think that was a panic attack,_ he thought to himself as he gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"I'm sorry," she apologised with a whisper before she swallowed and looked away again, down at the ground to her right.

"Are you sure you don't want an ambulance?" he asked cautiously, but she just shook her head and pulled her hands from under his to cross her arms over her chest. "Are you sure, Rebecca?" he asked again as he shifted to move his head into her line of sight. She looked back to him and saw his eyes glistening with concern.

"I'm sure, I can walk back, there's no problem," she insisted once again, but he just shook his head and sighed. _She would rather walk back? That's not right, surely? Anyone in their right mind would rather a lift, but that's just it, she can't be in her right mind, _he mused as he moved position when searing hot pain spread through his calf. _Okay, she's beginning to calm down, what caused that? _he wondered once he was comfortable, then took a quick glance around to try and decipher the cause of her anxiety.

"I'm not going to let you walk anywhere, Rebecca… what's the problem?" he questioned caringly as she glanced towards the officers as they approached the Hummer. She swallowed as she looked back to Horatio, who'd spotted a hint of trepidation emerging from her previously composed eyes.

Glancing away, he realised why. _The officers? Why's she afraid of them? Does she know them?_ he pondered as he gently began to rub her upper arm to comfort her. "Give us a second, please," he requested the two uniformed men and felt the Doctor's muscles tense under his hands. Both nodded at him before they strolled back to their vehicle and continued the deep conversation there were engaged in beforehand.

As he turned his head to look at her, he blinked a few times and continued to try and figure her out. "Rebecca, I can't help if I don't know what the problem is," he said delicately as he looked down to her drenched sweatpants and noticed a couple of rips in the seams. He felt his heart thud in his chest as he swallowed with a sudden peculiar awareness of impending doom momentarily draping down over his shoulders. _They were probably ripped by Paul… she's probably afraid of men right now, that's what her problem is. She must trusting of me though,_ he realised before he looked back up to her to see her wiping a tear from her eye as she sat up straight and took a deep breath.

"With all due respect, Lieutenant, I'm not asking for help; I just want to go home," she asserted confidently, but her eyes screamed desperation and apprehension.

"How about you ride with me? We'll go together?" he asked, hoping to settle her and to sway her from her irrational decision to walk to the Hospital. It was clear she was hesitant, but she thought about it. "I'll get you home much quicker, I promise," he added with a gentle smile, causing her to look back at him before she gave him a small nod.

"Thank you," she replied with a whisper before she bit her lower lip nervously, then looked down to his grubby, blood-stained shirt. He smiled reassuringly at her while he nodded and slowly stood up, he then lightly planted his hand on her shoulder.

"It's not a problem, are you able to get yourself into the Hummer or do you need a hand?" he asked as he held his hands out towards her anyway to aid her to her feet. Taking his hands, she nodded at him and then slowly rose to her feet. She gave him a small, awkward smile before she turned and sluggishly clambered into the high vehicle.

"Thank you," she expressed her gratitude as he held the door. Nodding with a smile, he carefully closed the door and then looked towards the officers. He gestured to them about the change of plan, causing them to nod, and then saunter over to the truck yard. Turning back to spot his two CSI's talking, he called for Calleigh. Making her way over to her superior quickly, she smiled at Rebecca in the Hummer as she stopped.

"Can you make your way to the Hospital, Rebecca will need to be examined… and we'll need to check for sexual assault," he explained quietly as he positioned a hand upon his hip.

"Of course, would she prefer it if she came with me?" Calleigh asked sympathetically as she stepped closer towards her boss.

"I think it's best if she comes with me, she seems to trust me," he explicated while he fiddled with his shades after removing his hand from his hip.

"Sure Horatio, I'll see you there," she agreed as she took a step back and then glanced to Rebecca with a warm smile before she started off towards her Hummer. "Oh, Horatio…" she called brightly as she turned back to the Lieutenant. He nodded as he regarded her genially. "I think you win the wet shirt contest," she grinned at him before she turned around once more and waltzed back to her Hummer. Pressing his lips together, he looked down and felt a wave of embarrassment flow over him. With his cheeks heating up, he rapidly slipped his sunglasses on and hurried around and into the Hummer.

Notifying Eric of the change in plans, Calleigh climbed into her Hummer and left Eric to tend to the body with Alexx once she'd arrived, while Ryan and Walter were on their way to look for the bomb and any evidence once the blaze was put out.

"Where's she going?" Rebecca asked as she looked towards Calleigh's Hummer and began to fiddle with the seams of the blanket around her shoulders. She then looked at Horatio, wanting to know his response as she had a feeling about where the female CSI was headed.

"She's going to meet us at the Hospital," he explained smoothly as he turned the keys in the ignition and pulled his seatbelt on. Swallowing as she looked back out of the front window, she pressed her lips together, indicating that her increasing hesitation.

"There isn't anything to worry about, okay? She's just coming along as she's our only female CSI," he said softly as he glanced over to her. She just looked away from him and knew what he was getting at, so distracted herself by watching the fire crew control the wild flames. _Now she's ignoring me? She's definitely hiding something, that's just proved it,_ he realised as he reversed back and then put the vehicle into gear. Unexpectedly, she flinched and sprang to the other side of the seat to move as far away from him as possible. While she began to hyperventilate again, Horatio instantly withdrew his hand from the transmission, completely startled himself.

"Rebecca, I'm not going to hurt you, Sweetheart," he assured her sincerely, looking at her comfortingly. Glancing back to him, she swallowed as she bit her lip fretfully, while she studied his calm demeanour before she began to relax once she realised he wasn't a threat to her. As she slowly released her hands from the tight grip she had on the car door, she nodded at him and exhaled away the breath she'd held.

"I…I'm sorry, you just made me jump; I guess a few days in the dark is enough to put anyone on the edge of their seat," she replied as her eyes connected with his. He took a moment to observe the element of panic still glowing brightly in her eyes, but could understand what she meant. _I guess she's right,_ he mused, but he could sense she was being slightly deceitful, or at the very least not telling him the whole truth. She quickly looked away when she began to feel uncomfortable under his penetrating gaze.

"I guess…" he replied quietly, then looked away; he knew he was unsettling her. Gradually and carefully, he reached back over to the transmission to put the vehicle into gear. Once they'd pulled off and started to drive back up the dusty road, he glanced over to her. She'd crumpled herself up to occupy as little space as she could while she looked out of the passenger window, he just knew that she was feeling frail, both mentally and physically and there was nothing he could do about it. _I should have found her sooner,_ _it's my fault she's been this harmed,_ he blamed himself as an upsurge of guilt rippled through his entire being.

"Are you thirsty at all?" he questioned softly, causing her to look over to him with her arms tightly wrapped around herself and her thighs pressed together. When she nodded at him, silently, he reached down to his left and pulled a water bottle from a cup-holder in the side of the door. "It's a new bottle," he added as he slowly handed it to her, being vigilant of his movements so he didn't startle her.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," she said gratefully as she took the lid off while he concentrated back on the road. Coming to a red light, he slowly braked and allowed his calf to relax. Usually, he'd feel slightly impatient if he were in the situation of needing to get someone help, he'd wish that the stoplights were green so he could get to his destination faster. In this case, he was secretly contented with the occasional rest at stoplights. Pulling off again, he could feel the stitches in his calf pulling, causing sharp pain to shoot through his muscle, it however was not enough to stop him driving. _I think that maybe a few of the deeper stitches have come out,_ he thought as he pulled onto the highway and headed towards the Hospital while the Doctor quickly finished the bottle of water and then thanked him again.

Horatio then caught her looking at herself in the mirror as she touched her eye and her nose with a displeased expression before she quietly hissed and removed her hand from her face. She sat back in the seat and relaxed a little as she minded her own business and looked out of the passenger window. However, Horatio's thoughts were far from minding his own business, but he didn't want to question her straight off.

"Are you warm enough?" he asked tenderly and she nodded, but he could still see her subtle shivering through the corner of his eye. _Why would she lie about that? She clearly isn't,_ he thought to himself with a sigh. Even though the Hummer was already roasting, he flicked the heating on to try and warm her up more. _I will have sweat most of my bodily fluid out by the time we get there, _he thought to himself, but it didn't bother him much at all as he only really thought about Rebecca. _She needs to be warmed up more than I need the air-conditioning on,_ he mused as she glanced over to him with an unsure, thankful smile while he put his hand back on the wheel. Silence once again filled the Hummer while Horatio drove, but it wasn't long before they arrived at the Hospital.

* * *

Having booked in, both Horatio and Rebecca sat in the waiting room while Calleigh had gone to the shop for drinks. Upon her return, she saw that Rebecca had finally fallen asleep and was resting against Horatio. Smiling as she handed her boss a coffee, he slowly took it and tried his best not to disturb the sleeping Doctor.

"She looks comfortable," Calleigh whispered sarcastically as she sat down on the other side of Rebecca and studied her leaning against Horatio with her head on his shoulder.

"I think if I were that tired, I'd fall asleep anywhere too," he replied to his colleague before he took a sip of the hot beverage. She silently agreed as she sat back and watched people pass by hurriedly.

"How long is the wait?" she questioned as she looked back over to him. _He doesn't look too uncomfortable, actually,_ she thought to herself while she studied his comforting posture, as if he welcomed the sleeping Doctor with open arms. She knew her superior just as well as her colleagues, maybe more so, so she knew that he'd do anything to help out or comfort a victim in need.

"Rebecca should be seen soon, she might need you to go in with her, I'm still unsure on where she stands with that. But we need to do a sex kit and we need to process her clothes," he replied while he looked down at his steaming hot coffee. She nodded but could see something was troubling him. "I don't think she's going to tell the Nurse or Doctor of any sort of assault, so if you can go in with her, that would be helpful," he added quietly, glancing at her with a sincere and concerned expression.

"I called forwards on the way here, they know that there's been a possible sexual assault. They've got their specialised Nurse on hand, she might be able to talk to Rebecca better than you or I," she replied quietly and then watched relief fleet across his eyes as he nodded appreciatively.

"Calleigh, can you do me a favour, please?" he asked discretely as he pulled the blanket around Rebecca a little more. Leaning forwards, the CSI nodded as she looked at him intensely. "Can you move those two Doctors and Nurse along, I think they know Rebecca and they're talking about her right now, it's not the sort of conversation they should be having either," he muttered while his sharp glare rested on the group to their right. Nodding again, she quickly got up and ushered the inquisitive people away. _That's exactly what she didn't want,_ he sighed to himself as he looked back down to the sleeping woman and felt very protective over her.

Just as Calleigh sat back down, a female staff member called out Rebecca's name. With a nudge from Horatio, the Doctor woke in a daze and then looked over to the Nurse, squinting in the bright light while Calleigh signalled to her that her patient was there. Walking over with an easy smile and a wheelchair, she greeted the 3 of them kindly.

Lethargically climbing into the wheelchair, the Doctor didn't say much while Horatio and Calleigh both greeted the Nurse kindly. She looked down at her knees as she pulled the blanket around her more.

"Would you like some company, Rebecca?" Calleigh asked warmly as she sat forwards with a sympathetic smile.

"No," she panicked as she looked towards her, shaking her head. The Nurse placed her hand gently on Rebecca's shoulder to try and calm her from her agitated state. "No thank you," she repeated much more politely as she relaxed herself again and then looked to the Lieutenant regretfully. He just smiled at her supportively as the Nurse gently rubbed her shoulder before the Doctor pulled away with a hiss of pain, causing the Nurse to apologise rapidly. Leaning on the side of the wheelchair, Rebecca put her head in her hand and closed her eyes, just wishing to get out of the situation at hand.

"Are you sure, Rebecca? I can stand behind the curtain," the CSI offered once again. _It is her choice, but why would she not want Calleigh to go with her? Then again, if I were in her situation, I do think I'd refuse anything of the sort,_ he thought to himself while he studied her slightly agitated eyes.

"No thank you," the injured woman repeated as she shook her head but looked down at the floor.

"Okay, I'm right here if you need anything, okay?" Calleigh said supportively. The Nurse thanked her as Rebecca nodded and took a deep breath. It wasn't before long that Horatio was called in and also treated.

* * *

Languidly walking by the side of the Nurse, Rebecca looked at the Lieutenant and CSI as they both stood. He'd managed to stand on his right leg just fine, she noticed his normal posture straight away but knew it was because he would have had local anaesthetic. Both he and Calleigh smiled compassionately as both she and the Nurse stopped.

"How are you feeling?" Horatio asked as he pulled his shades from his collar and began to fiddle with them while he observed the plain white clothes she was wearing.

"I'm good thanks," she replied quietly as she folded her arms and then looked down to the floor.

"Are they Rebecca's clothes?" Calleigh asked with a bright smile as she gestured to the large brown paper bag the Nurse was holding. Nodding she handed them over to the CSI while Rebecca became a little more disconcerted.

"May I have a word?" the staff member asked smoothly as she tilted her head with empathetic eyes.

"Of course," Calleigh replied as she began to head in the direction the woman had gestured to.

"Excuse me, but whatever you're going to say, you can say it in front of me," Rebecca announced brashly as she turned to them with a scowl. _She's becoming confrontational; I think we're going to have a situation on our hands,_ Horatio dreaded as he knew it was the last thing she needed to be doing was causing commotion.


	22. Chapter 22

"I'm a bloody Doctor, I used to work in the ER, I know exactly what you're going to say, so just say it here and now," she stressed at the Nurse who turned back and nodded politely. "You know what, I'll save you the job… I refused to do the sex kit, I have my reasons and I do not wish to share them with the police," she insolently grumbled before she turned and weakly marched away towards the exit.

"She's very vulnerable and insecure right now," the Nurse explained just before Horatio rushed off after her, but Calleigh stayed to listen to her. Both she and the staff member watched Rebecca and Horatio turn the corner and head towards the exit. "She's very defensive, which is understandable and she does have extensive injuries. I'll get the full report for you, just give me a minute," she said softly before she turned away and headed towards a desk.

Returning with a file, the Nurse handed it over to Calleigh. "I tried to refer her for a psych evaluation, but she refused. I think most of her irrational behaviour is due to lack of sleep, so there isn't anything permanent going on. The Doctor has checked her over and is happy to let her go, if you need anything else, just give us a call," she warmly informed Calleigh who nodded appreciatively.

"Can you tell me if her refusal of the sex kit will hinder our investigation?" the CSI cleverly asked, having her suspicions as to why Rebecca had refused.

"I can't tell you anything, I'm sorry," the Nurse said flatly before her pager buzzed. "I'm sorry, I've got to go," she added before she hurried away. _That doesn't give me much, _Calleigh mused before she turned and walked out to see Horatio and Rebecca slowly walking towards his Hummer.

* * *

"Alexx, have we got an ID yet?" Frank questioned the M.E with a notepad in hand, standing a couple of meters from her as dusk began to settle in.

"Not yet, but I have yet to check her over fully, there could be some ID in the dirt underneath her," Alexx replied as she delicately brushed the mud from the corpse's face with what looked like to the Detective Sergeant, a paintbrush. With a sigh he nodded as he glanced back to Eric who'd begun to photograph something in the soil a meter away.

"Hey Frank, what does that look like?" he called as he stood and pointed towards the ground. Making his way over to the CSI, the Texan looked towards the sky briefly; he knew his shift was going to be a long and dark one. He crouched with Eric and looked at the dirt, frowning as Eric picked up the item, he realised it was a wedding ring.

"Paul is married, but he wasn't wearing his wedding ring when we picked him up, I'd put money on that being his," Frank said as he looked towards the CSI with tight lips, gesturing towards the gold ring with the tip of his pen.

"It probably came off when he was burying our Jane Doe," Eric thought out loud before he bagged it, then looked up to the Detective Sergeant with a sigh. "She must be reported missing, we'll have to check any missing person reports around the time of her death," he added as both men stood and turned back to the M.E. who was just turning the victim onto her side to check her back out. Both men new that there was a chance of sexual assault as the deceased woman had nothing but her underwear on.

"I've got more bruising, she was beaten to death. She has a major skull fracture, that would have been the blow to kill her," Alexx explained as she looked the bruised and battered body up and down. Both men looked at the clearly fractured skull; the bone was even visible where she'd been struck so hard that the skin had been pulled back. "There would have been mass blood loss, if by some miracle the head injury didn't kill her, the blood loss would have," she added as she looked up at them to see both of them exhibiting disgust, horror and sympathy.

"I don't think Rebecca was far off joining her," Eric mumbled before he turned around to carry on with processing the scene just as a few officers arrived with industrial lights to illuminate the scene sufficiently.

"How is she? She left with Horatio just as I turned up," Alexx asked curiously as she stood up to help get the body onto the trolley.

"I don't know, she went to the hospital with H and Calleigh, as far as I saw, she's just very fatigued and hungry. I think she's escaped any major injuries," Eric replied which satisfied the Doctor's desire to know what happened. Exhaling through her nose, she nodded as she looked towards the ground by the CSI's feet as he walked away.

* * *

Calleigh had got straight on with processing Rebecca's clothes and any other evidence found on her, such as epithelials found under her nails and blood found in her hair.

"This won't take too long," he assured her as he held the interrogation room door open for her and allowed her to enter first. As she entered, she wrapped her arms around herself and looked back to Horatio as he closed the door behind him to give them some privacy. He pulled the seat out for her, then kindly gestured for her to sit. Timidly, she sat down just as he walked around the table and pulled the seat out for himself. _She's slowly warming to me,_ he thought as he ran his hand along the top of the leather seat.

"Would you like anything else to eat or drink?" he asked graciously as he looked up to her.

"Please, a drink would be great, but don't worry about the food," she replied quietly as she wrapped her arms around herself more tightly. _She needs to eat more, I know she's still very hungry,_ he mused.

"I can make sure the food is nut free? It's not as bad as you might think either," he gently encouraged while he listened to her stomach plead for more food.

She thought about it for a few seconds before she nodded at him shyly. "Please, only if it's still in its packet though," she said softly as she began to swing one of her legs forward and back under the seat.

"A cup of tea? Coffee? Soda? Water?" Horatio questioned as he carefully placed his sunglasses on the desk before positioning his hands on his hips.

"Soda please," she replied, then he nodded with a pleasant smile.

"Coming right up," he said smoothly before he made an elegant, swift exit. Rebecca leant forwards on the desk and put her head in her hands as she exhaled heavily while she lost herself in her thoughts. She just looked blankly at Horatio's sunglasses in front of her while thoughts rushed through her head.

Returning, he closed the door after him again and then gave Rebecca a sweet smile. As he pulled a chair up opposite her, he sat down before and placed two cans of ice cold soda, two packets of chips and two chocolate bars on the glass table. He pushed 3 items over to her and gave her a warm smile as he pulled his sunglasses over to him. As she checked the ingredients, he sat back and relaxed himself.

"Thank you," she said once she was finished reading as she looked over to his left hand that rested on a paper-pad and a pen. Blinking a few times, she looked back to him before looking down to the table edge in front of her as she began to run her thumb along the edge, worriedly.

"Don't worry about that now, just eat something, I'm hungry and I had breakfast this morning," he said warmly to try and make her feel a little comfortable as he pulled open the metallic tab on the soda can. He listened to it hiss and then brought it up to his lips as he looked away from Rebecca; it was clear she wasn't sure what to make of him and still seemed a little uncomfortable. He heard the hiss of her can and placed his down just as she brought hers up to her lips. He relished in the sense of delight he felt when he listened to her purr contentedly after she finished a few gulps of the fizzy drink. Sitting forwards, he pulled the chip packet open, then leant on the table with his elbows after munching on a chip. An explosion of flavour burst into his mouth; he savoured the taste as it was rare for him to indulge in a packet of chips, he thoroughly enjoyed them. _She's doing very well, usually a victim of her nature wouldn't be very comfortable or even talk, she is a strong woman,_ he mused as he covertly studied her behaviour.

"Happy to know you'll be home soon?" he asked just as she opened her packet; just the smell of salt and vinegar chips had overwhelmed her senses, causing her mouth to water.

"More than happy," she replied before she slipped two chips into her mouth. He couldn't help but smile widely as he looked down to the table to hide his grin; he was just happy to see her enjoying something so simple. Gradually sitting back in the seat, she stopped swinging her leg back and forth as she began to relax further. _I might as well get this over and done with, then she can go home all the quicker, _he thought to himself as he silently sighed.

"Can you tell me what happened, Rebecca?" Horatio asked warmly once she'd finished her mouthful and she sighed; she knew the question was coming. Pushing the bag of chips back, she sat forwards and leant on the glass table. She took a moment to think about how she was going to word her sentences while she looked down at her hands and played with her fingers. Once she felt ready to recite the story, she looked up at him calmly.

"I was going to go for a run after work 3 days ago, I'd got changed and sat on my bed when I picked up my book to just read one more page as it was still too warm out, so I wanted to wait until it cooled down. Anyway, one page turned into 20 and I must've fallen asleep. The next thing I know is Stephen… Paul woke me by putting his hand over my mouth with a knife in his other hand. He threatened to stab me if I screamed and held the knife to my throat as he dragged me from my bed," she said before she took a sip of the soda again. It was clear that Horatio was captivated by the information, but she could see that he was also furious and very tense. He managed to keep himself calm externally as he nodded at her and encouraged her to go on while he felt his rage boiling in his core.

"He looked wired… as if he was high on something. He dragged me downstairs where I managed to fight him off and kicked the knife away. He whacked me in the face a few times and then when I bent over in slight shock and pain he grabbed my hair and smashed my face into the granite worktop in the kitchen. I fell to the floor while my nose began to bleed profusely which gave him the chance to grab the knife he'd dropped. I tried to get to my feet but he pulled my ankles from under me and dragged me out of the kitchen. That's when he pulled me to my feet and pressed the knife against my throat again. Then he got me into his vehicle and drove me over to a place full of trucks," she said as she looked down to the glass table and interlocked her fingers tightly. The Lieutenant could feel every beat of his heart pushing his anger further towards the surface. _He's going to wish he wasn't born when I get my hands on him,_ he threatened sinisterly.

She swallowed and then looked back up at him. "I couldn't stop him, he was stronger than me and bigger than me, he also had a knife so I'd say that he had an advantage. I'm sorry I couldn't stop him… He's killed someone, hasn't he? I would have been next… it should have been me, that body, not some innocent woman who could have a family," she added quietly as she looked down again when she began to feel guilty. He crooked his head to the right as he studied her tormented eyes while they focussed on her hands, he knew she was blaming herself. _It's not unusual for victims to blame themselves…_ _Survivor's guilt… I won't be able to make her see that it wasn't her fault just yet, but in time I hope she sees the situation for what it was, _he mused as he blinked a few times, allowing his azure blue eyes to study the snivelling Doctor.

"Rebecca, you shouldn't be apologising, Sweetheart. Well done for telling me," Horatio praised as he reached forwards on the table to place his hand over her trembling hand but she quickly pulled her hand back and placed it in her lap. _Comfort, she's pushing me away because she's afraid I'll be judging her, that's why she doesn't want my comfort, it could be because she's sensing my anger with him, the last thing she wants is to be in a room with another angry man, _he wondered as their eyes briefly connected, sharing a moment of awkwardness. Calming himself down for her sake, he relaxed his tense muscles and exhaled some of his fury away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to be rude," she apologised as she looked away from him and pushed her chair out as if she was readying herself to get up. Horatio's eyes were full of sympathy, he realised her trembling had increased but knew it wasn't to do with being cold any longer, recalling the events had shaken her up, literally. He tightened his outstretched hand into a fist and slowly brought it back towards his body as he tilted his head. _She's not telling me the whole story,_ he understood.

"What happened when he got you back to the truck yard?" Horatio asked delicately as he sat back in his seat and surreptitiously messaged Calleigh to get her to walk by, in case the Doctor would feel better talking to her.

"Nothing," she replied quietly as she shook her head and looked up at him through her lashes.

"Rebecca, you're safe," he said warmly as he tilted his head to the other side and sat forwards, subtly slipping his phone back into his pocket. _She's not coming to terms with what's happened yet, is she?_ he pondered.

"I said nothing happened, okay?" she repeated a little more forcefully as she leant forwards on the desk and looked him in the eye intensely. She quickly sat back up when she realised she'd accidentally knocked the soda can over. Lunging forwards as the fluid poured out on the glass table top, she picked the can up and set it down. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she pleaded with her voice breaking as the lump in her throat grew. She held the can to the table as her hands trembled violently while Horatio quickly stood and walked around the table.

He quickly and gently pulled her up and put his arms around her. He held her close to himself and lightly held her head against his chest just as she began to sob properly. "It's okay, it's okay Rebecca," Horatio soothed her as he placed his cheek against the side of her head and felt her put one arm around him but leave the other by her side as she exhaled a heavy, long breath. "You don't need to be sorry for anything," he murmured warmly as he just held her close to him. He knew she was caught completely off guard when he embraced her, but he could feel that she was grateful for the comfort as she took a loose fistful of his shirt. As he glanced up he saw Calleigh slowly approaching the room with a tender smile.

"Thank you," Rebecca whispered as she took a step back which caused Horatio to release her. She slunk back down into the chair and looked over to the puddle of soda on the table.

"Don't worry about that," Horatio said as he walked out and quickly returned with a roll of tissue to mop up the liquid with Calleigh close behind him. He then threw the sodden tissue into the bin and placed the dry roll on the end of the table as he sat down himself. The Doctor looked towards Calleigh as she sat next to the Lieutenant and leant forwards on the desk with a supportive smile.

"Please, can I just go home now?" she asked quietly as she folded her arms across her chest and looked from the CSI to Horatio and back.

"You can leave whenever you like Rebecca, but the less you give us, the quicker this guy is going to get out and repeat his actions. He's not a new criminal and his next victim may not be so lucky," Horatio levelled with her as he leant forwards and set his soft eyes on hers. She sighed and raised her eyebrows slightly as she looked at him. She sat back and looked down to his reflection in the table.


	23. Chapter 23

"We're going to be here for hours, Wolfe," Walter complained as they sifted through mountains of burnt debris in the soot covered office. The smoke had gone, but the unique odour remained in the air, despite the constant cool breeze flowing through where the windows once were. Scattered glass crunched under their feet where the blast had shattered them into a million pieces. Nothing but the echoes of their voices in the disconcertingly noiseless surroundings could be heard as they rifled through scorched garbage.

"Don't remind me," the CSI sighed monotonously as he stood where the wooden desk had been sat previously. Nothing but one leg of the table remained; the rest had burned to ash. Shaking his head, Walter turned back and continued to search through anything he could find. As he slowly crouched, Ryan felt the fatigue of his weary muscles having been at work for 9 hours. Meticulously studying the floor, he realised he'd found where the bomb had been hidden.

"The blast originated from here, the bomb parts wouldn't have travelled too far as the blast pressure sucks everything back in, this bomb is still in this room, just in more parts than it started off as," he explained, using his torch to search a pile of charred and broken furniture to his right. Silence loomed in the air while both men got on with their job professionally, diligently hunting for evidence of any nature.

Sometime later, one of the CSI's unearthed a couple of wires twisted together, he immediately knew it was a part of the device. "Hey Walter, I've got some of our bomb," Ryan declared as he held the two wires up with his tweezers so he was able to scrutinise them closely. _H is the bomb expert, we need him here ideally,_ he mused while narrowing his eyes on the connected wires.

As he trudged over to his colleague, Walter heard a gurgling sound emanating from the bathroom which initially caused confusion. Having taken a quick look at what his colleague had found, he concentrated on the sound and turned around, unsure if it was originating from the bathroom.

"Can you hear that?" he finally asked after Ryan had bagged the wire, then turned back to his colleague while furrowing his brow with a hint of curiosity and confusion in his eyes.

Rising to his feet, the slim CSI looked Walter up and down as he nodded before his eyes settled on his stomach, assuming the noise was coming from him.

"Yes, what is that? Is that you? Don't tell me you're hungry; you ate an hour ago," he grumbled; all he wanted to do was clear the scene and head back to the lab to begin a long night of processing. Both he and Walter knew that Horatio would want the evidence to be examined straight away and would want his team to investigate instead of the night crew. As his eyebrows arched and lips pulled into a slightly amused smile, Walter turned back to his colleague.

"No it's not me… it sounds like a blocked drain," Walter crumpled his face up, indicating his drab sense of humour in the late afternoon once the initial amusement had passed. Heading towards the bathroom, he looked in once and realised the sound was coming from the toilet. Noticing that half of the ceramic toilet was standing in once piece he looked for the other half that had been blown to the other side of the room and smashed into 3 large pieces.

Following his colleague, Ryan could sense that the bathroom wasn't a pretty sight. "Delko did say that the victim they found didn't have her clothes on, he might have tried to get rid of them, causing a blockage?" he questioned as he carefully entered the flooded restroom.

"Yeah, I'm certain he wouldn't have thrown them in the trash, so he would have flushed them…" Walter agreed as both men edged closer to the wrecked toilet, then peered down the overflowing pipe. Swiftly looking away again, both men felt their stomachs churn because the metallic tang mixed with the rancid stench of sewage intensified. They knew exactly what the distinct smell was, and they both knew where it was coming from. _There's blood down there, it's all probably blocked up and clotted,_ Ryan thoughts as he quickly pressed his lips together and took a step back.

"Mm… I'm gonna' leave this one to you," the slimmer CSI chirped as he turned his head away and closed his mouth again in disgust as a dollop of reddish sludge plopped onto the floor from the pipe.

"Gee, thanks Wolfe, remind me to get you an extra special gift for your birthday," Walter groused as he crouched to get a better look while the putrid pong strengthened.

"I look forward to that," he replied before he quickly walked out, leaving his colleague to deal with the bathroom while he searched for the rest of the bomb.

* * *

Rebecca swallowed as she looked towards Calleigh, somewhat uncomfortable with her presence since she'd not spent much time with her, but she knew the CSI was to be trusted. She knew what she had to do, she knew she had to elaborate on every detail she'd given them. She felt her heart rate increase as she began to think back, she began to re-live the experience as she took a deep breath. The blonde CSI cautiously rose to her feet and walked around the table to sit herself next to the Doctor, hoping to make her feel a little more comfortable. Closing her eyes as she remembered a few more details about the experience that she'd forgotten, or had begun to repress, she then clenched her fists before looking towards Horatio, looking into his enthralling cerulean eyes and only focussing on them. He anticipated the disclosure of more details, but wasn't sure what to expect, but he knew it would only force his anger further towards the surface.

"He blindfolded me and put me in the trunk of his car, and when he got me to his workplace, he walked me somewhere before he tied me to a chair and held a gun to my head. He tried to get me to write out prescriptions for him, but I refused. I thought he was going to blow my brains out there and then, but he didn't and I realise that he didn't because he was going to try again. He wanted all sorts of drugs and he wasn't only going to use them for himself. He wanted me to… to... I heard his pant zipper and he wanted sexual gratification," her sentences became more of a whisper as she looked down to the Lieutenant's hands as he fiddled furiously with his shades. Calleigh handed her a couple of tissues as she began to snivel again before the CSI gently soothed the Doctor by taking a gentle grip of her forearm.

"I didn't… I refused. I refused anything of the sort and when I tried to make a run for it, he tied my legs up too. That's when he started to cut me with a knife and hit me with a heavy object. I didn't do anything, I didn't do it for him," her voice became louder as she became more adamant while she hostilely stared at Horatio. He quickly broke the eye contact he and Calleigh made while they spoke silent words and looked back at the Doctor.

"You're safe Rebecca," he reminded her smoothly as he leant forwards.

"This morning he took the blindfold off and tried to make me write out a prescription for a selection of drugs again, but he also said he'd shoot me if I said anything about it or if I raised the alarm on the child abuse he was putting his daughter through. He's sick in the head. Then Abby walked past in her pajamas, it was still dark out, she said she wanted to go back to bed as she was tired and no-longer wanted to go to the zoo. He quickly rushed out after she saw him threatening me with a gun. I didn't see him again until a couple of hours later when he came back and was panicking. He dragged me out of the building and put me in that ice truck, blindfolded and tied up again, then the engine started and it began to cool but we didn't move. I thought he was going to drive off, but nothing. I then heard him shouting on the phone and that was the last of it until you turned up," she looked away again and removed her arm from under Calleigh's hand to cross her arms over her chest when suddenly another detail sprang to light.

"There was another man, I have no idea who he was, I'd not seen him before. He was threatening me too, he had a gun… I don't know his name, I just know that they seem to have worked together for some time, he was high on something too. He was wearing overalls, like he worked for a garage and had gloves hanging out of his pocket with short brown hair. He was youngish, maybe 29 or 30 years old. I didn't see him again after this morning, but I heard them talking, they were talking about covering their asses and disposing of me," her voice had become quieter once more as she relived the experience and closed her eyes. She felt the same fear she felt when she'd listened to them discuss. _There was another man, another man who will wish he wasn't born,_ he grouched internally.

"I was scared, but I'd accepted that it was probably going to be my last day on Earth," she shrugged as she composed herself, reminding herself that she was safe and in the company of police officers, she opened her eyes and took a deep breath with a nod to signal that she was okay. Both Horatio and Calleigh reassured with gentle expressions while they nodded.

"Well done for telling us, Rebecca… but there's a chunk in the middle that you've neglected to tell me, can you tell me what happened then?" Horatio asked but she just looked at him with an unreadable expression, he was unsure if she was upset, uncomfortable or angry. He'd noticed that her hands had clenched into fists while she began to nervously swing one of her legs forwards and back under the chair again.

"Nothing happened apart from the same routine of torture, that's why there was nothing to say on the matter," she replied flatly as she folded her arms and began to close herself off again. She broke the eye contact with him as she looked out of the window, temporarily distracting herself from his penetrating gaze. _I'm not sure if she's intentionally being deceitful or if she's still unable to come to terms with what happened. She might be repressing or trying to repress anything else that went on. She admitted he wanted sexual stimulus, he wouldn't have stopped if she refused, men like him never do,_ Horatio mused as he shook his head and looked down at the Doctor's hands while she anxiously tapped at the glass table top.

He sighed gently and leant forwards on the table. "Would you prefer if I left you with Calleigh or another female officer instead?" he pulled his sunglasses towards him, ready to get up, causing her to look back to him with a deep frown, but he also noticed the desperation for him to stay in her eyes. _I think I've definitely gained her trust, that is surprising, I thought she'd be more inclined to bond with Calleigh,_ he thought as he nodded and settled himself again.

"No, I told you nothing happened," she insisted as she concentrated greatly on his eyes. He sighed once more and looked to his sunglasses and felt the slick metal frame slide between his fingers. _I'm going to have to ask her straight, aren't I? She simply won't tell me otherwise,_ he realised, already feeling guilty for a question he'd yet to ask her while he moistened his dry lips briefly.

"Rebecca, were you raped sweetheart?" he questioned sensitively and quietly as he stopped fiddling with his shades and looked her straight in the eye. He watched her expression change within a second, from quite a placid expression to a very agitated, fearful and perhaps even shameful one, he couldn't quite work it out, all he knew was that she experienced a handful of emotions within a few seconds. Calleigh shook her head at Horatio with a glare; she knew it was too much for Rebecca and only wished she was able to stop her boss from being so blunt.

"No! I was not raped," she replied loudly and boisterously before she vaulted up to her feet. "I'd like to leave now, may I leave? I gave you everything," she didn't give either of them a second look as she turned to the door just as Calleigh stood and placed her hand gently on the Doctor's shoulder.

"We're sorry, we are, but we have to assume if you don't talk to us, Rebecca, we are here to help you, not to judge you, not to hurt you," she moved closer towards the victim and looked into her impenetrable blue eyes. _I've just caused her to completely close herself off from us, way to go, old man,_ he belittled himself as he stood with a sigh as he leant on the table, looking at both women while they just stared at each other while he inclined his head to the right.

"She's right, Rebecca," he validated his colleague, but she didn't even look back to him she just looked Calleigh in the eye with a scowl.

"I gave you everything… I would like to leave, please," she pressed as she gently took Calleigh's hand from her shoulder and just held it, subconsciously needing the comfort from another human being. _Perhaps she is telling us the truth? _he wondered.

"Of course Rebecca, I'll take you home," Horatio appeased as he graciously walked over to her, smiling comfortingly at her with his sunglasses in his hand.

Shaking her head as he stepped away from Calleigh and let go of her hand, she looked towards the Lieutenant. "Thank you very much, but I'd rather you got on with your job, I will walk," she replied quietly as she looked down at the chocolate bar on the table with her stomach grumbling loudly. _She wants to walk home?_ he mused as he began to shake his head at her, disagreeing with her irrational decision.

"There's no trouble Rebecca, I'll take you home," he gently placed his hand on her back as his soft eyes connected with hers. Looking towards her boss, the CSI wasn't sure who out of Horatio or Rebecca would get their own way; they seemed equally stubborn.

"Lieutenant, I really appreciate all you've done, I really do. You've done more than you should and gone out of your way to save my life as well as trying to make me feel comfortable... Do you do this for everyone? Because you're really doing more than you should," she asked as her eyes softened on him before he stepped closer and began to hide his smile as he looked down to the floor.

"I do what I can for those who need it," he replied warmly once he'd minimised his smile to look back up at her. _She might be tired, but she's being quite sly in refusing the lift,_ he thought.

"You'll run yourself into the ground of you continue like that," she crossed her arms and looked him in the eye as her expression began to harden again.

"You'd know that, would you?" he questioned and she just looked at him while Calleigh took a step back when she felt the room heat up somewhat. She could see the both of them judging the other, as to whether the other was going to give in.

"Okay, I'll take the lift, thank you," Rebecca sulked, but also seemed very grateful as she tried to hide a small smile, displaying her gratitude.

"I'll be back soon," Horatio informed his colleague as he walked over to the door and held it open for the Doctor. Turning back to Calleigh, Rebecca thanked her warmly before she quickly scurried out of the interrogation room with Horatio.

"You've done too much for me Lieutenant, how can I ever repay you?" she questioned as they walked side by side towards the lift.

As they boarded the elevator, he turned to her. "You don't have to repay me, Rebecca," he murmured as he pressed the button for the ground floor. He seemed slightly sickened to think anyone would assume he wanted something in return for what he's paid to do, even if he did do more than what he should. _It's my duty to protect citizens, _he told himself as the doors closed.

Once at the ground floor, they both exited the elevator and began to walk out just as an elder officer began to approach them. Horatio turned his head to look at Rebecca when he felt her take a firm hold of his wrist. _What's she doing? Is she okay?_ he wondered as he noticed her glaring at something to their left. Peering over to his left, he noticed the officer, in her early 60's with short blonde hair and slightly stocky frame approaching them cautiously.

"Lieutenant, Rebecca," she greeted kindly as she interlocked her fingers in front of her and stopped by them. "Rebecca, I just wanted to know that you were okay, I was worried sick," she looked down to the floor, shamefully as Horatio stopped walking, causing the Doctor to stop. Remaining silent, she just glared down at the floor with her lips tightening and her eyes narrowing on the tiles.

"Linda, there's no need to be worried," the Lieutenant replied when he realised Rebecca was less than interested in engaging in conversation with the senior officer. Swallowing, she nodded at him with saddening eyes. _Do they know each other?_ he pondered as he looked from the officer to Rebecca.

"You've grown up a lot, it's been a long time…" the officer said quietly, causing great concern for Horatio when he felt Rebecca's hand tighten on his wrist. "I'll always lo–" she started but suddenly the Doctor pushed Horatio out of the way and slapped the officer across the face.

* * *

"We were right, the victims clothes were flushed down the toilet, but they'd got caught on a broken pipe, if we're lucky, they will have retained some DNA from the victim and Miss Henderson as Paul seems to have flushed any evidence, including a purse, containing some ID," Walter informed his colleague as he strolled back out into the main office where Ryan had collected most of the device that was used to blow up the building.

"Who's ID?" he questioned as he stood up and continued to look around.

"Her name was Evelyn Myres, she was 43 and worked at the same hospital as our other victim, the Doctor," he replied, causing Ryan to pause and turn back to him.

"At the same hospital as Rebecca?" he stepped towards Walter with his torch in his hand as he looked down at the ID.

"Yes, I'll call them when we get back, she must be reported missing," he replied before he put the ID card back in the evidence bag and looked up to his colleague.

"I think this is all about drugs," Ryan mused out loud as he turned.

"Why blow up his entire business though?" Walter quizzed as they both turned away from each other to continue looking for the bomb.

"He had a lot to hide," he replied as he picked up a small plain black pot. With a shake, he heard something rattle inside, so opened it and emptied the contents out into the palm of his gloved hand. As his eyes widened, he peered back towards Walter. "It looks like he had more to hide than I thought; these are human teeth," he said as he shone the torch on the 4 still slightly bloody teeth.

"Could they be his daughters? Parents often keep their children's first teeth, don't they?" the CSI asked as he walked over and looked down at them.

"These are adult teeth, probably from Evelyn," Ryan said as he bagged them as evidence, sorrowfully.

"She was tortured," Walter thought aloud as he stood up straight and glanced around. Both could feel an overwhelming sense of determination swelling deep within their cores, they wanted to find anything and everything that would put their suspect away for as long as it was possible.


	24. Chapter 24

**Warning: some mild language**

* * *

"Don't you dare say another word!" Rebecca snapped as she shook her stinging hand, glowering fiercely at the officer who cupped her cheek and tried to soothe her smarting skin. Staggered by the Doctor's extreme reaction, Horatio quickly lunged forwards and delicately moved Rebecca away from the remarkably mellow Officer. _Did Linda expect that?_ he asked himself while he maintained his grip on her shoulders.

"Rebecca," he whispered as she revealed her teeth with a hostile snarl. As she raised her hands to shove him away, he felt the full brunt of her anger and distress while it manifested itself through her violent behaviour. However, he took hold of her tight fists and carefully moved her back more. Having noticed the commotion, a few officers gradually began to approach, assessing the situation as they walked. _She should have stayed in Hospital for that psychological evaluation,_ he told himself while he observed her darkening eyes.

"You Bitch, don't you **ever** talk to me again," she howled as she tried to push Horatio away, but he didn't budge. His large hands engulfed hers as they clenched tighter; he could feel her animosity resonate throughout her stiff body once more. _She's going to get herself arrested,_ he worried as he took a quick glance around and realised a couple of officers headed their way with handcuffs at the ready.

"Rebecca, calm down, Sweetheart," he soothed, then glanced back to the elder Officer with an expression displaying tremendous amounts of bewilderment; he simply couldn't work out why she'd flip so fiercely. "Rebecca, calm down," he commanded, causing her to discontinue with her rash behaviour having been slightly startled by his sharp request.

"Ma'am–" an Officer said as he halted beside Horatio with cuffs in his hands, ready to arrest the Doctor.

"Stand down, Officer, the situation is under control. Now back to work, please," Linda instructed while she looked from him towards Rebecca. For the first time, she saw the strong resentment in her eyes and realised it would have been best to leave the Doctor alone completely. The 3 men, including the young man about to make an arrest obeyed the senior Officer's orders immediately. _There's something more going on; she knows Rebecca, why didn't she come forward when we put out a BOLO for her?_he wondered as he peered back and saw the female Officer continue to rub her bright red cheek. _She looks as if she's guilty of something, _he mused, which caused more confusion in the Lieutenant's head. She could see he was trying to work out what was going on and thought it was best if she put his mind at rest.

"I deserved that, Lieutenant, please let her go," she sighed as she positioned her hands on her hips, then met with Rebecca's spiteful glare.

"Can I let you go?" he questioned the Doctor quietly to which she nodded and then stepped back once he'd released her. As he looked into her eyes, he watched her expression ease, but as he heard the Officer behind him step towards them, Rebecca's odious glower made a swift return as she looked towards the blonde woman once more. Exhaling forcefully through her nose, she mercilessly sprang forwards to strike again; however, Horatio quickly stopped her.

"Rebecca, wait outside, I will be there in a minute," he ordered firmly as he stepped in front of her to block her view with a sincere gaze, he then placed his hands on his hips. _She did assault an Officer, I can't completely excuse her from that… She's very agitated about something, I think there's trouble on the horizon,_ he mused as her upper lip curled into a scowl before she raised her hands in submission and marched out of the hall and towards the doors to his surprise. _Well, that wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be,_ he mused as he turned back to Linda with his hands firmly on his hips, hoping for an explanation of some sort.

"Don't get involved, Lieutenant Caine, I deserved that and that's all you need to know. Thank you for finding her, please give her your best and nothing but your best," she asked as she straightened out her shirt before walking away from the enormously stumped red-head. As he took a moment to clear his thoughts, he looked towards the floor and blinked many times while tapping at his belt. _Did that happen, or am I hallucinating because of sleep-deprivation?_ he quizzed himself.

Heading out the front, he realised a mass of Reporters had gathered out front. His eyes were immediately drawn to one woman, someone he knew very well. _Lana, _he thought with one fist clenching as he watched his ex of many, many years, hassle Rebecca for information.

* * *

"Hey Cal, did you find anything on Rebecca's clothing?" Eric questioned as he strolled into the trace lab with a file in hand. Studying his smart attire that consisted of a pair of light-grey suit-pants and a pale-pink shirt, she couldn't help but think about how attractive he seemed, but she quickly focused back on the task at hand.

"Not much, most of the evidence on her clothes will have come off in the pond, there's some trace amounts of her blood, but that's to be expected. Any hair fibres that Paul could have left behind were more than likely washed away. Unfortunately we have nothing to go on apart from the condition of her clothes; there's some uneven rips in her sweatpants where I think he pulled them off her, but there are also some clean-cut incisions; he probably used a knife to cut her… I think he tortured her by cutting her," she replied as she gestured towards the scores in the damp clothes demonstrated by a manikin. "If you look at the cuts found on her body, these wounds are in the same place as the slices in the clothes," she explained to her colleague as she showed him the photographs that were laid out on the desk. "But where the ragged tears are, there's bruising on her skin, no open wounds," she informed him as he nodded, taking in all of the information while he quickly examined the evidence himself.

"Wolfe found teeth at the scene, Paul was torturing them to get what he wanted and by the looks of things, if he didn't get what he wanted, he'd kill them. Is Rebecca missing any teeth?" Eric questioned as he put down the file he was holding and picked up another file, listing the Doctor's injuries.

"No, maybe he didn't get that far with her though?" Calleigh said as she picked up a photograph of her mouth to double check for any damage while the other CSI picked up another photo.

"She's got a broken cheekbone too? Evelyn, our victim found in the shallow-grave had extensive head and facial wounds, her injuries are looking a lot like Rebecca's, but only on a much more severe scale," Eric sighed as he pushed the file he'd entered with over to the blonde CSI. Upon opening it, she realised that most of the injuries were a match to Rebecca's.

"Hey Eric, was Evelyn raped?" Calleigh asked smoothly as she put the file down and turned her attention to him.

"I'm not sure, I'll ask Alexx; I'm on my way down now," he replied as he picked the file back up when Calleigh nodded at him.

"Okay, when you find out, please let me know as soon as possible," she asked as she turned her attention back to the manikin stood in front of her wearing the Doctor's damaged clothing.

"Sure thing, Cal," he replied as he headed out and down to see the M.E.

* * *

Heading towards the crowd, the Lieutenant could feel a hint of agitation sparking up while he glared at the tall, dark-haired, loud-mouthed Reporter as Rebecca batted the microphone out of her face.

"I have no comment for any of you, you can camp out here all night long, but you will not get a drop of information from anyone in that building," Rebecca announced loudly and confidently as she once again batted the microphone away.

"Ah, Lieutenant Caine, is it true that you're holding a man who's wanted for the murder of a pharmacist, abuse of his daughter and the kidnap of this woman?" the boisterous Reporter questioned as she pushed Rebecca out of the way to shove her microphone in Horatio's face. _Here we go,_ he droned monotonously in his mind.

"Lana," he greeted callously as he gently pushed the microphone away. She gave him a crafty grin while she positioned one hand on her hip. "Leave now, Lana," he ordered quietly; he knew she was going to make both his life and the Doctor's harder.

"Well, it's been a long time since I heard those words," she toyed as she tilted her head at him, allowing her hollow eyes to connect with his. As her wicked grin grew, he noticed her beginning to flirt with him as she flicked her fringe back; but he knew she only wanted information. _She's up to her games again, I'm not getting Rebecca involved with any of this,_ he thought as he exhaled through his nose and pressed his lips into a line.

"Lana," he warned lowly as he glanced down to the ground as Rebecca stepped up to her, intimidatingly.

"You're not going to get anything from me, so why don't you take your spineless camera crew away and report about a lost cat up a tree," the Doctor brutally said before the two women glared are each other silently.

"Don't go near those trees, Rebecca," she responded bitterly as she turned the microphone off and then glared towards Horatio. A smirk began to cover her face as she looked the Lieutenant up and down, seductively.

"You look like you've had a bad day, Honey, call me later if you want some help out of those dirty pants," she grinned as she stepped up to Horatio and placed her hand on his upper arm without breaking eye contact with him, not even for a second.

With a sarcastic chuckle escaping his throat he shook his head as he looked down to the sidewalk. "If you're lucky, there will be Officers on your doorstep later if you continue to hassle my witness," he replied icily when he looked down his nose at her, he then gently placed his hand on Rebecca's shoulder blade to signal he was done talking and about to walk away.

"Remind them to bring the handcuffs; you know just how much I enjoy those," she answered before she smugly walked away, leaving him feeling slightly uncomfortable as Rebecca looked up at him clearly peeved by the encounter.

"Well, she's a charming woman," she proclaimed before she turned and began to head away, leaving a smaller group of quieter self-publicised Reporters standing around, unsure whether they should leave or not. "You know, I had that under control, do you really feel the need to rush to my rescue again? Had you not been involved, your bedroom habits would have remained a secret, something I for one would rather," she muttered as he began to rush after her, feeling dreadfully embarrassed about the situation.

"She's an ex of mine, a bitter one at that. Handcuffs were never used–" he positioned a hand on his hip as he subtly put his hand on one of her shoulders, turning her towards his Hummer, but she began to speak over him, hesitant to hear what he had to say.

"Please do not explain anything of that manner to me, that's your private life… it's not for me to know," she silenced him as she halted and turned to face him. _She's right, I shouldn't be explaining anything of that nature to her, _he thought as he pulled his keys from his pocket and unlocked the large vehicle from afar. "You know, you shouldn't feel the need to run along after me, I can handle situations like that myself. It was under control before you turned up… I understand that there are people out there who might need you to run around after them, but I'm not one of those women. You need to learn to judge when it's time to give people space, I don't mean to be rude, Lieutenant, but you're tired and you need to look after yourself before you look after anyone else," she lectured him before they started walking again. _She's one to talk,_ he mused just as he felt a ripple of dull pain move through his calf.

"Am I allowed to give you the same lecture?" he replied as he opened the passenger door for her just as she looked over his shoulder and then swallowed while she froze into position. He saw the fear fleet across her blue eyes in the dim light, and so he cautiously reached out for her to place a warm hand on her upper arm.

"There's a man walking towards us," she whispered as she stepped towards him and tightened her jaw as she knitted her brow. "It's the man, the other man that worked with Stephen… Paul, I mean Paul," she added quietly as she reached out and took hold of his shirt with a trembling hand. _Could she be seeing things? Surely this man wouldn't be dumb enough to turn up here?_ he thought to himself as he gently took hold of her hand and released his shirt from her grip, all while giving her a comforting expression to help her feel at least a little safer. _She's definitely seen someone, maybe he is stupid enough to turn up here; she's terrified,_ he realised as her jaw drooped open a little in sheer horror.

"Stay behind me," he turned around and placed his hand upon his weapon, ready for whatever or whoever was behind him.

With his eyes widening, a very perplexed look established itself on the weary Lieutenant's face. "Mister Wolfe?" he questioned, extremely alarmed while he tried to work out what was going on once again.


End file.
